FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2002
Robert Bernstein CB02-115
Public Information Office
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Europe Single Largest Source of Older Foreign-Born
Population, Census Bureau Reports
Among the nation's 3.1 million foreign-born people age 65 and over in
2000, 39 percent came from Europe, 31 percent from Latin America and 22
percent from Asia, according to a report released today by the Commerce
Department's Census Bureau.
The report, produced with the support of the U.S. National Institute on
Aging (NIA), is based on data collected primarily in the March 2000
Current Population Survey, and the estimates contained therein do not
reflect Census 2000 results.
"Historically, Europe has been the primary source of immigration to this
country, and the European-born was the single largest group among the
older foreign-born population in 2000," said Wan He, author of
The Older Foreign-Born Population in the United States: 2000.
"Reflecting immigration trends of recent decades, people from Latin
America and Asia combined now represent the majority of the foreign-born
of all ages and about half the older foreign-born. This likely will modify
the characteristics of the older foreign-born population as time passes."
"These types of analyses are very important," said Georgeanne E.
Patmios, acting chief of the Population and Social Processes Branch at the
NIA's Behavioral and Social Research Program. "They will help
policymakers, scientists and community leaders better address the health,
economic and social support needs of older Americans, who will
increasingly differ by racial, ethnic and cultural background."
Other highlights of the report:
- The 65-and-older foreign-born population (3.1 million) represented a
ratio of 1-in-10 of the entire foreign-born population (28.4 million)
in 2000. In 1960, older people comprised about 3-in-10 of the
foreign-born.
- While 39 percent of the older foreign-born began life in Europe, only
15 percent of the foreign-born of all ages were born in Europe. In
contrast, people from Latin America accounted for 31 percent of the
older foreign-born but 51 percent of the entire foreign-born
population.
- Almost two-thirds of the older foreign-born population in 2000 lived
in the United States for more than 30 years.
- Seventy percent of the older foreign-born population were naturalized
citizens, almost twice the proportion of citizens as found among the
entire foreign-born population. Regionally, older people from Europe
had the highest naturalization rate (80 percent) of all the older
foreign-born.
- Among the 1.7 million households maintained by an older foreign-born
person, about 6-in-10 were family households. This compares with about
5-in-10 households with an older native householder that were family
households.
- Older foreign-born householders were twice as likely as their native
counterparts to live in a family household with three or more people
(20 percent versus 9 percent).
- About one-third (35 percent) of the older foreign-born population
lived in the West. In contrast, more than one-third (38 percent) of
the older native population resided in the South.
- Foreign-born people comprised 45 percent of the 65-and-over population
who lacked health insurance.
- For the older foreign-born and native population alike, women were
twice as likely to live alone as were men.
The data primarily are from a random sample of approximately 57,000
households surveyed in March 2000. As in all surveys, the data are subject
to sampling variability and other sources of error.
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