on Mar 19th, 2006Demographic and Economic Trends of Older Californians
As the Baby Boomer population ages, every state government will need to analyze the impact it will have on their social, political, and economic programs. California has produced an early report that breaks down the situation. It’s available as a free download (pdf file).
In Graying in the Golden State: Demographic and Economic Trends of Older Californians, authors Sonya Tafoya and Hans Johnson report that by 2030, one in every three Californians will be over the age of 50, and the proportion of those over 65 will have increased to 17 percent from 11 percent in 1998. “In total numbers, the population of people over 65 in California will grow from 3.6 million to 8.9 million,” says Johnson, a research fellow and demographer at PPIC. “The aging baby boomer generation and longer life expectancies among the elderly will contribute to this surge in the older population.”
Key Findings
- The graying of California will be accompanied by an increase in the number of children. Unlike the rest of the nation, in thirty years the state may find itself in the unenviable position of providing services to a population that is concentrated at both ends of the age spectrum. State and local governments will be forced to depend on a smaller proportion of working age people to support programs for residents over 65 and under 18.
- Only about half of all jobs in California offer pension and retirement plan benefits, significantly less than in the rest of the nation.
- Today’s older Californians are relatively well-off financially and have lower poverty rates than other age groups (below 10 percent). The majority derive more than 70 percent of their income from Social Security.
- When they retire, most female baby boomers will have had lower incomes than men, will have experienced more frequent career interruptions, and will have less retirement savings.
Graying in the Golden State: Demographic and Economic Trends of Older Californians
Sonya M. Tafoya and Hans P. Johnson
Public Policy Institute of California
November 2000, 15 pp.
Vol. 2, No. 2