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The MetLife Mature Market Institute recently published a study about grandparents: "The MetLife Report on American Grandparents: New Insights for a New Generation of Grandparents". The data for this study was gathered from the 2010 Census Bureau reports, the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Surveys, and the Center for Disease Control.
Highlights of this study include:
- Approximately one in ten households are headed by a grandparent, who has at least one grandchild living with them.
- A majority of grandparents, (54%), are baby boomers, ages 45 to 64.
- There were an estimated 65 million grandparents in the United States in 2010 and it is estimated that this number will climb to 80 million in 2020.
- Grandparent spending on child-specific items (like infant formula and children's clothing) has increased 71% since 1999.
The full report can be downloaded here.
MetLife Mature Market Institute has published a report based on data from the most recent American Housing Survey conducted by the Census Bureau. This report, "Housing Trends Update for the 55+ Market" describes "... where 55+ households live, characteristics of their homes and communities, and level of satisfaction with the homes and communities." In addition, the report includes information about households who moved and why they moved. Here are some key findings:
- The majority of 55+ households are not in age-restricted communities.
- The primary reasons for moving are for family or personal reasons.
- Most 55+ households are happy with the house that they live in, but the households in the age-restricted communities had the highest measured happiness rating.
- The choice to move to a home in an active adult community to be closer to work has increased from 2% in 2001 to 12% in 2009.
- About 54,000 housing starts in 55+ communities are projected in 2011.
You can access the full report here.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor has published an article about the high unemployment rate among older workers (age 55 and older). The jobless rate among older workers in February 2010 was 7.1%, which was just under the all time high of 7.2% in December 2009. This jobless rate is much lower than the jobless rate for those aged 16-24 (18.9%) and for those aged 25-54 (8.6%).
However, those older adults who are unemployed spend a longer period searching for a job. Older adults had a 35.5 week duration of joblessness, compared to 23.3 weeks for people aged 16 -24 and 30.3 weeks for people aged 25-54. Another trend has been an increase in the number of older adults working, which has increased through mid 2009 and then stayed constant at about 40%. For more information, please click here.
