U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

September 1996

Elderly and nonelderly expenditures on necessities in the 1980s

Rose M. Rubin, Kenneth Koelin

For much of the U.S. population, both real income and discretionary spending increased over the 1980s; elderly households, however, fared better, on average, than nonelderly households. The research presented in this article ties together the related issues of the growing elderly population and the flattening of growth of public social support programs. The article also compares elderly households with nonelderly households in both years, to determine their relative welfare.

Download PDF »