U.S. Social Security Administration, Office of Policy.

Expenditures of the Aged

 
by Kimberly Burham
Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 67 No. 1, 2007

Text Description for Chart 1. Distribution of expenditures, by earned income status

Percentage distribution of expenditures of consumer units aged 65 or older, by earned income status
Total expenditures (dollars) With
earned income		 With no
earned income
Less than 10,000 4.3 20.4
10,000–14,999 10.3 21.7
15,000–19,999 12.3 17.9
20,000–24,999 13.8 12.1
25,000–29,999 12.8 8.6
30,000–34,999 11.4 5.6
35,000–49,999 16.2 7.1
50,000 or more 18.9 6.5
SOURCE: Interview portion of the 2002 Consumer Expenditure Survey.

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Text Description for Chart 3. Mean percentage allocated to components of expenditures, by age

Mean percentage allocated to components of expenditures of consumer units, by age
Component 55–64 65–74 75 or older 65 or older
Housing 31.2 31.2 34.7 32.6
Food 12.6 14.0 14.0 14.0
Out-of-pocket health care 6.8 11.2 15.1 12.9
Transportation 18.9 17.6 13.3 15.8
Apparel 4.1 3.9 2.9 3.5
Entertainment 5.2 4.3 3.8 4.0
Other 21.2 17.8 16.3 17.2
SOURCE: Interview and diary portions of the 2002 Consumer Expenditure Survey.

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Text Description for Chart 4. Distribution of consumer units, by housing tenure and age

Percentage distribution of consumer units, by housing tenure and age
Housing tenure 55–64 65–74 75 or older 65 or older
Owner with mortgage 42.9 26.1 9.4 17.9
Owner without mortgage 38.0 57.6 67.1 62.3
Renter 19.2 16.2 23.5 19.8
SOURCE: Interview portion of the 2002 Consumer Expenditure Survey.

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Text Description for Chart 5. Mean percentage allocated to housing expenditures, by housing tenure and age

Mean percentage allocated to housing expenditures, by housing tenure and age
Housing tenure 55–64 65–74 75 or older 65 or older
Owner with mortgage 33.4 34.6 35.6 34.8
Owner without mortgage 25.3 27.5 31.2 29.3
Renter 37.0 37.2 45.3 41.6
SOURCE: Interview and diary portions of the 2002 Consumer Expenditure Survey.

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Text Description for Chart 6. Share of consumer units spending 95 percent or more of their food expenditures on food prepared and eaten at home, by age

Share of consumer units spending 95 percent or more of their food expenditures on food prepared and eaten at home, by age
Age group Percent
55–64 22.1
65–74 30.1
75 or older 40.1
65 or older 35.0
SOURCE: Interview portion of the 2002 Consumer Expenditure Survey.

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