Description/Abstract
How is the economic status of the elderly changing and what are their prospects for the future? My portrait tells us how well off they are on average, but also about the vast disparities that exist among them. This description includes an often neglected measure of their economic well-being--the amount of wealth they control. Amazingly little is known about how much personal wealth older people have and how and what determines its distribution. But the conventional definition of household wealth ignores two critical components of wealth: the expected income flows from pensions and Social Security. For some elderly households, Social Security represents the largest part of their wealth. I conclude with some thoughts on one of the most sensitive and critical public policy issues--the necessity of reforming Social Security.
Document Type
Policy Brief
Date
1997
Keywords
Geriatrics, economic status of the elderly, Social Security, pensions
Language
English
Series
Reports Series
Disciplines
Geriatrics
Recommended Citation
Smith, James P., "The Changing Economic Circumstances of the Elderly: Income, Wealth, and Social Security" (1997). Center for Policy Research. 35.
https://surface.syr.edu/cpr/35
Source
Metedata from RePec
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
