Among people age 65 years and over, 14 percent were in the civilian labor force, 55 percent were married and living with their spouse and 9.7 percent had incomes below the poverty level, according to tabulations released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau.

     The Census Bureau cautions the public not to confuse these estimates, based on survey data collected in March 2000, with Census 2000 data now being released on a flow basis. Findings from these two sources may not agree because of different data collection procedures.

     Other highlights:

• Men 65 and over were more likely than women in this age group to be married and living with their spouse. For example, among those in the 65- to 84-year-old age group,74 percent of men and 45 percent of women were married and living with their spouse. These proportions were much lower for people 85 years and over: 53 percent of men and 12 percent of women.
• Older men were more likely than older women to be in the civilian labor force. Among those age 65 and over, 19 percent of men and 10 percent of women were in the civilian labor force.
• Among employed people age 65 and over, men were more likely than women to work in executive, administrative and managerial occupations (19 percent compared with 12 percent). Women, on the other hand, worked more frequently in administrative support jobs than did men (28 percent compared with 6 percent).
• Older women had a higher poverty rate than older men. For example, among those 65 and over, 11.8 percent of women and 6.9 percent of men were poor.
• Half of all adults 65 years and over lived in the suburbs.

     The statistics on the older population were extracted from a series of 21 tables titled The Older Population in the United States: March 2000, PPL-147. Data in the tables were collected in the March 2000 Current Population Survey. They cover such topics as age and sex distribution, marital status, household type and size, educational attainment, nativity,labor force status, occupation, income, poverty status and tenure for various age groups, beginning with 55 years and over.

     The Census Bureau today also released a special edition of its monthly Facts for Features for Older Americans Month, which was celebrated in May. This fact sheet is a brief compendium of current statistics on the older population.

     As with all surveys, the data are subject to sampling and nonsampling error.