The following sites provide up-to-date snapshots of the U.S. elder population, as well as projections of its size and composition in the future.

Census 2000

Census 2000 Demographic Profiles:  Tables describing basic demographic characteristics (including age and sex characteristics) for individual states and entire U.S.

Census 2000 Briefs: The Census 2000 Brief series present the first analysis of Census 2000 population and housing topics to the public.  Changes since the 1990 Census are discussed, if applicable. The briefs also include sections discussing interesting questions related to the topic, the importance of Census 2000 collecting data on the subject matter, as well as where readers can go to learn more about the topic.

Census 2000, Detailed Data for States:  Detailed demographic data for individual states.  These data are scheduled to be released over two years, beginning in Spring 2000. The site is continuously updated to reflect new release of state data.

Other Data

Population Pyramids: Actual and projected views of the age and sex composition encompassing 1990, 2000, 2025, 2050, and 2100.  Quadagno discusses how population pyramids are constructed and what they represent in Chapter 3.  These pyramid projections show expectations about the "rectangularization" of the U.S. age structure in coming decades.

U.S. Age Structure by Sex:  Data for selected years between 1990 and 2000.  Also shows increasing median age of U.S. population overall, and by sex.  These tables illustrate some of the concepts, such as age-cohorts, presented in Chapters 1 and 3.  For more information about how the data were collected and aggregated, please follow this link: Sources and methods used to construct table.

Marital Status: Of elders by year (trend) and gender.  Documents a "marriage gap" among elder women and men: the fact that elder men are more likely to be married than their female counterparts.  As discussed in Chapters 3 and 9 of your text, this disparity is due mainly to the differential life expectancies of men and women.

Residential Patterns: Proportion of people aged 65 and over by U.S. state.  Depicted in a user-friendly graphic that complements Quadagno's presentation in Chapter 3.

Household Composition: Provides data on percentages of elders living alone and with "families" by gender.  Also provides information about declining percentage of elders living in institutional settings.  These data supplement the material presented in Chapters 1, 3, and 9.

Poverty Rates: Percentage of elders living below poverty line, by sex and household composition.  These data augment the material presented in Chapters 15 and 16.

Sources of Income: Tabled by distance above or below poverty line.  Shows greater reliance of poor elders on social security income, as opposed to pensions and other sources (as discussed in Chapter 16).  

Health Insurance Coverage: Percent of elders covered by health insurance, by race/ethnicity.  These data support the presentations in Chapters 4, 12, 15, and 17.