Profile of older Americans
About 3.7 million elderly persons were below the poverty level in 2008, according to the Profile of Older Americans: 2009, a new report from the U.S. Administration on Aging. Social Security constituted 90 percent or more of the income received by 35 percent of all beneficiaries. Other highlights include: More than one in eight of the U.S. population is age 65 and older, and the age 85 and older population is projected to increase by 36 percent, from 4.2 million in 2000 to 5.7 million in 2010, and then to 6.6 million in 2020 – a 15- percent increase for that decade.