Economic and social conditions of children and the elderly

David Scott Johnson is a research economist in the Division of Price and Index Number Research, Over the past four decades, the proportion of children in the U.S. population has fallen from 36 percent (in 1960) to 26 percent (in 1998), and is expected to drop to approximately 24 percent in 2020. (See chart 1.) Over the same period, in contrast, the share of elderly persons has risen from about 9 percent of the population to 13 percent, and is projected to increase to 16 percent by 2020. The 1998 United Nations World Population report shows that these changes in composition are occurring throughout the world. As these populations of children and the elderly have changed, so have their economic and social circumstances. Based on many socioeconomic measures, the elderly today are as well off as, and perhaps better off than, the nonelderly. It is important to note that socioeconomic measures for the elderly are better than those for children. The data also show that children are an increasing fraction of the poor, despite the reduction in family size. A 1984 study first noted this trend. Since that time, several authors have revisited this issue and found that the elderly are better off economically than are children (as measured by, for example, relative family incomes) and also are better off in noneconomic ways as well, such as improved health insurance coverage. This article expands on previous studies, and provides a wider range of socioeconomic indicators to compare the status of the elderly and children. It uses a report, America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-being, 1999, which presents 23 indicators of “child well-being and six population and family background measures. The report examines the trends during the past two decades. These indicators are monitored through official Federal statistics covering children’s economic security, health, behavior, social environment, and education. They were chosen because they are easy to understand, objectively based on reliable data, and measured regularly. Also, they represent large segments of the population from infancy to age 18 and a balanced mix of the “well-being” domain. For the elderly, this article uses studies similar to those used to compile the data for America’s Children to develop socioeconomic indicators by which to compare with the data for children. (See notes to table 1.) Many of the socioeconomic indicators are important for monitoring the quality of life for both children and the elderly. This article compares many of these indicators for children from infancy to 18 years of age with those of the elderly age 65 and older. Table 1 shows the comparable indicators for both children and the elderly for selected years between 1980 and 1998. One can observe the socioeconomic conditions of the two groups for a particular year, and can compare the changes that have occurred since 1980.