Among people age 65 and older who reported income
from a government pension, the median annual amount was
$15,600 while the median amount received in 2004 was just
$6,720 for recipients of private pensions.
The report said that 49% of wage and salary workers
between the ages
of 21 and 64 participated in employer-sponsored
retirement plans last year.
In 2004, 12.2 million people age 65 and older - 34.5%
of that age group - received income from a private or
public pension. Of this number, 4.1 million had income from
a public-sector pension - i.e., from previous employment in
the federal, state, or local government -
and 8.4 million received income from private sector pension
plans. Nearly
one-third
of pension recipients age 65 and older received income from
government-sponsored pension plans.
In 2004, 85% of all government employees worked at
jobs that offered retirement benefits, compared to just
56% of private-sector employees.
Many Americans also partially fund their retirements
from the income from their private investments. According
to the CRS,
of the 35.2 million Americans age 65 or older who
were living in households in 2004, 19.7 million (56%)
received income from assets, such as interest, dividends,
rent, and royalties. Most received small amounts of income
from the assets they owned. Of all individuals age 65 or
older who received income from assets in 2004, half
received less than $952.
Income From Work
Significantly, CRS found that earnings from work
continue to be an important source of income for older
Americans, especially those under age 70. Although there
was a trend toward earlier retirement from about 1960 to
1985, over the past 20 years more Americans have continued
to work at older ages - either because of economic
necessity or to keep busy. In 2004, median earnings for
individuals age 55-61 who worked were $34,000, while median
earned income for workers age 62-64 was $27,000.
For workers 65 and older, the median earned income was
$15,000.
Meanwhile CRS data showed that, overall, Social Security
was the largest single source of income for older Americans
during 2004.
Some 69% of Social Security beneficiaries age 65 or
older got more than half of their income from the
government program. For 39% of elderly recipients, Social
Security contributes more than 90% of their income, and for
nearly one-quarter of recipients, it was their only
source.
The good news in the CRS data came in the area of
poverty among the elderly. Poverty among those age 65 and
older has fallen from one-in-three older persons in 1960
to one-in-ten today. While the overall rate of poverty is
relatively low, it
remains high for women, minorities, the
less-educated, and those over age 80.