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A data base with income and assets of new retirees by race and hispanic origin

  • Research Note
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The Review of Black Political Economy

Abstract

This study of persons who retired in 1980-81 across groups partitioned by marital status, sex, race, and Hispanic origin reveals sub-stantial differences in income and asset holdings. Data from the New Beneficiary Survey show that (1) median income ranged from $ 11,000 for black couples to $18,000 for white couples, (2) social security payments were the major source of income, (3) pension income was more frequently received by white retirees, but when received, was of comparable value to all races, (4) home ownership was high among all retirees, especially couples, and (5) median assets of black retirees were very low—near zero.

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Notes

  1. These groups have been analyzed inA Portrait of Older Minorities (Washington. D.C.: American Association of Retired Persons, 1986) and Robert Hill,“A Demographic Profile of the Black Elderly,”Aging, September/October. 1978, p. 5. Data on some income sources for persons age 65 and over in 1984 can be found in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,Income and Resources of the Population 65 and Over (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office), pp. 8 and 10.

  2. Retirement Income: 1984 Pension Law Will Help Some Widows but Not the Poorest, U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO/HRD-88-77).

  3. Frank G. Davis,“Impact of Social Security Taxes on the Poor,”The Review of Black Political Economy, Vol. 10 (Winter 1980): 199–208; and Patrick Driesson,“The Race Factor in Social Security,”The Review of Black Political Economy, Vol. 12 (Fall 1982): 65–82.

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  4. The NBS data is available directly from the Social Security Administration (301-965-5530) or through the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (313-763-5010).

  5. The 1982 New Beneficiary Survey User’s Manual, U.S. DHHS, Social Security Administration, April 1986, Tables 7.10–7.15, pp. 91–96, andMoney Income of Households, Families, and Persons in the United States: 1981, Series P-60, No. 137, Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce, March 1983, Appendix B, pp. 217–225.

  6. The 1982 New Beneficiary Survey User’s Manual, pp. 54–68.

  7. This is a slight improvement over earlier estimates. See Russell A. Ward,“The Stability of Racial Differences Across Age Strata,”Survey of Social Research, April 1983, p. 312; and Julian Abbott, “Socioeconomic Characteristics of the Elderly: Some Black-White Differences,”Social Security Bulletin, July, 1977, pp. 16–42.

  8. In contrast to all elderly. Select Committee on Aging,The Plight of the Black Elderlv: A Major Crisis in America (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1987), p. 22.

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  9. For a description of the shift of women of other races to government employment on their longest job, see Donald C. Snyder,“ Pension Status of Recently Retired Workers on Their Longest Job: Findings from the New Beneficiary Survey,”Social Security Bulletin, August 1986, Table 24, p. 20.

  10. See Snyder.“ Pension Status of Recently Retired Workers,”pages 17–18, for a discussion of how the NBS and SNEB compare. The SNEB characteristics are taken from Leonard Rubin,“ Economic Status of Black Newly Entitled Workers,”ReachingRetirement Age: Findings from a Survey of Newly Entitled Workers, 1968-70 (Research Report No. 47), Office of Research and Statistics, Social Security Administration, 1976, Table 15.5. p. 220. The SNEB data tape is also available through the Inter-University Consortium,supra.

  11. This finding is consistent with earlier predictions of greater pension coverage of black retirees. See Donald C. Snyder,“Future Pension Status of the Black Elderly,” in Donald E. Gelfand and Alfred J. Kutzik, eds.,Ethnicity and Aging Theory, Research, and Policy (N.Y.: Springer Publishing Co., 1979), pp. 291–307.

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  12. Note that pensions have been reported separately. Net assets can’t be ascertained because debt other than mortgages is not reported. However, other debt held by the elderly who retire has been found to be negligible. See Joseph Friedman and Jane Sjogren,“Assets of the Elderly AsThey Retire,”Social Security Bulletin, January 1981. pp. 1–16.

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Authors
  1. Donald C. Snyder
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Snyder, D.C. A data base with income and assets of new retirees by race and hispanic origin. Rev Black Polit Econ 17, 73–81 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02910818

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02910818

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