According to a new PPI Fact Sheet by Ke Bin Wu of the AARP
Public Policy Institute, median household income and median
family income declined between 2007 and 2008, coinciding with
the recession. The decline in income was greatest for households
and families headed by persons age 45 to 54. The income of the
elderly did not decline, but as in past years, elderly
households and families had lower incomes than others. Poverty
also increased in 2008 for all age groups except the elderly.
The official poverty rate for the elderly is lower than that of
non-elderly adults or children. However, the official poverty
measure is outdated, particularly for older persons. Using a
better measure of poverty, we find that the poverty rate for
older persons is double that of the official measure, and higher
than that of other age groups. Non-elderly adults were less
likely to have health insurance than were children or the
elderly, and rates of coverage among non-elderly adults declined
slightly between 2007 and 2008. Minorit