Differences in Sources and Size of Income: Findings of the 1963 Survey of the Aged

THE AGED as a group receive income from many sources. But the relative importance of the sources of money income varies greatly between the group with the highest, income and the middle-income and low-income groups. Nonbeneficiaries in the low-income groups are dependent on public assistance and veterans’ benefits for most of their income. Earnings from employment are the largest source of income for the aged in the high-income group. Among the middleand low-income groups, for whom work can scarcely be considered as a major source of income, old-age, survivors, and disability insurance (OSSDI) benefits account for the largest share of total income. These findings result from an analysis of income data from the 1963 Survey of the Aged,’ based on a classification of aged units 2 into three income groups of equal size-low, middle, and high. For married couples, all units whose in-