December 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 41

The award-winning Malley Senior Recreation Center in Englewood, Colorado,
has been recognized for its excellence in
older adult wellness programs.

has been one of this country's great
national achievements in the past half
century. The federal government's traditional poverty measure reports that
in 2012, 15 percent of U.S. citizens
lived in poverty, but this dropped to 9.1
percent among those older than 65. In
1959, when the federal government first
published this measure, 35.2 percent of
seniors were below it. Seniors' income
comes from four main sources: Social
Security (37 percent), earnings (30 percent), private pensions (18 percent),
and assets such as interest, dividends
and rents (11 percent). While interest
income has declined during the past
six years, the other three sources have
continued to grow, and in each case that
growth is widely projected to continue.
Table 2 reports the income growth of
age cohorts over the past three decades
in 2011-adjusted dollars. It shows that
in real-money terms, there was a general trend of consistent increase across
all age groups in the 1980-2000 period.
In the last decade, that reversed in every age group under 65, but continued
to increase in the cohorts over 65. The
percentage change over the three-decade period was negative for the 15-24
age group and insignificant for those
in the 25-54 age range, but the median real income for those aged 55-64
increased by 10 percent, and among
those over 65 it went up by 45 percent.
Despite these dramatic improvements, lobbyists for the elderly frequently note that their household
income remains relatively low. For
example, in 2011 their median household income of $33,118 was only 65
percent of the $50,864 median of all
U.S. households, which was lower than
that of all other cohorts except those
aged 15-24. However, many argue this
is deceptive because, on average, elderly households are much smaller than

typical American households. Table 2
shows that when viewed on a per-capita basis, the median income of those in
the 65-74 cohort exceeds the national
average by 11 percent, while among
the over-75 age group it rises to 82 percent of the national average.
Seniors' costs of living are generally
lower than those of nonseniors, which
reinforces their income and net asset
gains. A large majority have neither
child-rearing expenses nor work-related expenses such as commuting costs.
More than 80 percent of them are homeowners and most are likely to have paid
off their mortgage by age 65, so their
accommodation expenses are limited to
taxes and maintenance. Furthermore, an
increasing number of local jurisdictions
have enacted legislation that freezes the
property taxes paid by seniors on their
homes at the amount paid when they
reach age 65. Thus, while the inevitable
future year annual increases in tax rates
and appraised values (at a minimum to
cover higher costs of services caused by
inflation) result in all property owners
other than seniors paying higher taxes,
seniors remain unaffected.

Economic Contributions
In addition to their enhanced income,
seniors' median net assets ($170,516)
are 2.5 times the median for the nation ($68,828) and greater than those
of any other age group. Their increasing affluence has resulted in many
communities viewing GRAMPIES
(growing number of retired active
monied people in excellent shape) as
a new clean growth " industry. " An
annual inflow of 100 retired households with $40,000 in annual income
would equate to a new $4 million annual payroll in the community.
This income is relatively stable and
not subjected to the vicissitudes of
economic business cycles; seniors stimulate housing, retail and especially a
community's healthcare industry, but
do not put pressure on either the local
job market or the school system, and
they also provide a volunteer pool.
The key requirements, both for
attracting new GRAMPIES and
retaining those currently in a community, are ambiance and amenities
that facilitate socialization and an
active lifestyle. Such activity-friendly

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Parks & Recreation

December 2013 - Parks & Recreation

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