WAXAHACHIE,
Tex. — Most Americans suffered serious losses during and after the
recession, knocked off balance by layoffs, stagnant pay and the collapse
of home values. But apart from the superrich, one group’s fortunes
appear to have held remarkably steady: seniors.
Supported by income from Social Security,
pensions and investments, as well as an increasing number of paychecks
from delaying retirement, older people not only weathered the economic
downturn that began in 2007 but made significant gains, a New York Times
analysis of government data has found.
People
on the leading edge of the baby boom and those born during World War II
— the 25 million Americans now between the ages of 65 and 74 — have
emerged as particularly well positioned in the nation’s economic
timeline. While there are plenty of individual exceptions, as a group
they are better off financially than past generations and may well enjoy
a more successful old age than future ones, even those merely a decade
younger.
“These
are people who have been blessed with good economic circumstances,
especially those who were able to ride the wave of postwar economic
growth,” said Gary V. Engelhardt, an economist at Syracuse. “They’re
definitely in a sweet spot.”
Older
Americans’ ability to rise during the postrecession years when most
households were falling reflects a broader trend that has unfolded in
recent decades.
In
the past, the elderly were usually poorer than other age groups. Now,
they are the last generation to widely enjoy a traditional pension, and
are prime beneficiaries of a government safety net targeted at older
Americans. They also have profited from the long rise in real estate
prices that preceded the recession. As a result, more seniors now fall
into the middle class — defined in this case between the 40th and 80th
income percentile — than ever before.
Median income for people 75 years and older has also risen, but not as much as it has for people in the 65-to-74 age group.
Seniors Are Working, Earning and Spending More
SEE FIGURES HERE > http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/15/business/economy/american-seniors-enjoy-the-middle-class-life.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0
One
of this relatively fortunate group is Monette Berryhill, 72. Six days a
week she descends from her second-floor apartment for a treadmill
workout in the poolside fitness room of her gated complex here in
Waxahachie, south of Dallas.
A
widow who says she enjoys her freedom too much to date, Ms. Berryhill
dines out with friends from time to time and recently took in a country
music concert. Her yearly vacation is a San Diego trip to see
grandchildren, but this year she expects to splurge on an Alaskan
cruise.
Ms. Berryhill’s past career in customer service at two banks did not make her rich. But her retirement is comfortable.
“I
feel like I’m doing all right,” said Ms. Berryhill, whose red-framed
glasses offset her snowy, spiked hair. “I really enjoy it.”
Gains Mask Inequality
Some researchers have found that the economic success of seniors
is masking an even deeper gulf in income inequality between the upper
tier and everyone else than what is evident in the overall statistics.
“It’s
not so much that older people are experiencing unseemly gains in
income,” said Alicia H. Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement
Research at Boston College. “It’s more that middle-aged people are not
seeing income growing or even keeping pace with inflation.”
Nearly
half of seniors ages 65 and up consider themselves in excellent or good
shape financially, according to a Pew survey last month, in contrast to
younger baby boomers, who view their circumstances less favorably.
More
secure in their finances, many older Americans have congregated in
traditional retirement communities. The Villages — a Central Florida
haven for seniors with its low crime and dozens of golf courses — has
been the fastest-growing American metropolitan area
for the last two years. Millions of other elderly people have settled
in middle-income suburban and exurban areas like Waxahachie.
Living
in the muggy weather and neighborhoods of classic gingerbread houses,
most seniors here are thriving, riding an overall population boom. But
the current crop reflects some different choices from those who lived in
the area three decades ago. For one thing, many more of them are
working to supplement their income.
“The
whole meaning of retirement is changing,” said Gary Koenig, vice
president for economic and consumer security at the AARP Public Policy
Institute. “People are living longer; they have to fund more years of
retirement.”
Charles
Kozlovsky, 73, retired from his job driving an 18-wheeler in 2009. Two
years later he went to work as a school bus driver. The job keeps him
busy but the work can be stressful; on a recent day a student was
suspended from his bus for bad behavior.
In
between routes, Mr. Kozlovsky goes to the senior center, a popular
hangout for its 1,350 members that offers everything from poker games to
Zumba for anyone 50 and up. For holidays, he and his wife play host to
grandchildren who live nearby, setting up tables in the garage and back
porch to squeeze everyone in.
The
couple tend their backyard lemon and peach trees; sometimes they take
trips to Branson, Mo., to see musical shows. Mr. Kozlovsky particularly
enjoys his meticulously restored, shiny red 1957 Chevy, which he shows
off in the parade at the annual National Polka Festival in nearby Ennis.
WORKING OUT Dr. Mike Leath, a retired chiropractor, led a stretch-and-flex class at the Waxahachie Senior Activity Center. The city-run center offers a host of activities like poker games and Zumba for those 50 and up. Credit Brandon Thibodeaux for The New York Times
“Things got a little bit better when I started driving a school bus,” Mr. Kozlovsky said.
As recently as the late 1990s, only one in five Americans in their late 60s had a job. Now, that number has jumped to almost one in three. And unlike in their parents’ generation, more women are earning paychecks than in the past, contributing to household income.
Researchers say these factors are in large part responsible for the substantial rise in median household income that seniors in their late 60s and early 70s have experienced since 1989, even as Americans in their prime working years have mostly treaded water or lost ground.
Not everyone, of course, can work later in life. Health problems and age discrimination present major hurdles. And many of those who find jobs consider them barely adequate.
Pat Cherry, 72, has been earning minimum wage at a job in the library of the city-run Waxahachie Senior Activity Center. Ms. Cherry, who is divorced, had to retire early from a bookkeeping job after an autoimmune disease caused her to miss too much work. She could barely pay her bills until she found the part-time job through a government-sponsored work program, but it expired last month.
Ms. Cherry is worried no one will hire her again. “I need the money desperately,” she said.
Still, for those seniors who manage to work longer, the benefits can be significant, providing a much-needed enhancement to retirement income. And for those with enough money from a job to postpone receiving their monthly checks from the government, the value of future Social Security payments rises by about 8 percent for each year of waiting, up to age 70.
Social Security benefits make up more than half the total income for a majority of the nation’s elderly — 52 percent of married people and 74 percent of unmarried people, according to the federal government.
Kathleen McGarry, an economist at the University of California, Los Angeles whose research focuses on the well-being of seniors, calls Social Security “the single most important tool in combating poverty among the elderly.”
For Jim Engel, 72, his government benefit offered a lifeline after he lost his bakery business during the recession. The checks let him put off the sale of his nest egg, a Tennessee walking horse barn, allowing time for property values to recover.
“I feel blessed,” he said.
Extra Responsibilities
To be sure, many older people have trouble making ends meet and some are saddled with responsibilities that exceed the reaches of the safety net. Mary Walker, 74, who fled New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina with no more than an extra pair of underwear in her purse, is now raising two young great-grandchildren on her own not far from Waxahachie. “At this age I shouldn’t be struggling,” she said.
But older Americans in general are significantly wealthier compared to previous generations.
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