September 25, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

65-and-over group gives most

The 65-and-older age group allocated more of their expenditures to cash contributions in 1998 than other age groups did. "Cash contributions" include cash given to persons outside of the household, charities, churches, and other organizations.

Cash contributions as a percentage of total expenditures, by age group, 1998
[Chart data—TXT]

Cash contributions by households headed by someone aged 65-and-older amounted to 6.2 percent of their total expenditures in 1998. This figure is about twice as high as the 2.9 percent given by the 35-to-64-year-old group and over three times as high as the 1.8 percent given by the under-35 age group.

Not only is the share allocated to cash contributions highest for the 65-and-over group, but the level also is. This group contributed $1,529 on average in 1998, compared with $1,232 for the 35-to-64 group and $536 for the under-35 set.

These data are a product of the Consumer Expenditures Survey program. Additional information is available in "Spending Patterns By Age," Issues in Labor Statistics (PDF 33K), Summary 00-16, August 2000.

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