The AB86 regional consortia system does not include funding for Older Adult Education and Parent Education.
The California Department of Education’s 2011 “Linking Adults to Opportunity” report on adult education has an excellent section on the “ripple effects” of adult education. These effects included better community health, greater school success for children, stronger families, and reduced recidivism. Adult school programs for older adults and adults with disabilities, along with parent education and family literacy classes, contribute to these “ripple effects” just as much as workforce preparation, programs, and perhaps more. The state of California should continue to fund these programs, so that our communities can continue to reap the benefits. (Save Your Adult School blog post, written by Kristen Pursley on 5/10/13)
DEMOGRAPHICS OF CALIFORNIA’S
SENIOR POPULATION
Compiled by California Commission on Aging
California’s population
age 60 and over has grown rapidly throughout this century (see Table
1). Between 1950 and 2000, older adults in this state increased from
1.6 million to 4.7 million, an increase of 194 percent. This trend
will continue as the cohort age 60 and over grows to 12.8 million by
2050, an increase of 172 percent from 2000.
Table 1
California
Population Growth
Age 60 and
Over
(in millions,
rounded)
The largest growth rate
will occur during the next 30 years as the Baby Boomers, those born
between 1946 and 1964, reach age 60. The first wave of Baby Boomers
will turn 60 between 2000 and 2010, contributing to a 36 percent
increase in California’s older adult population during this decade.
By 2010, nearly 16 percent of Californians will be age 60 or older.
Table 2
Projected
Growth in Population Age 60 and Over
2000-2040
By Age
Groups
|
Age
Range
|
Total
Population
(2000
Census)
|
Total
Population
(2010 DoF
Projections)
|
Total Population
(2040 DoF
Projections)
|
Total
Population Change
|
Percent
Change
|
|
60-64
|
1,146,841
|
1,944,211
|
2,579,283
|
1,432,442
|
125%
|
|
65-69
|
984,535
|
1,388,990
|
2,488,577
|
1,504,042
|
153%
|
|
70-74
|
903,288
|
1,033,176
|
2,286,549
|
1,383,261
|
153%
|
|
75-79
|
779,347
|
799,244
|
1,960,630
|
1,181,283
|
152%
|
|
80-84
|
502,831
|
615,927
|
1,430,462
|
927,631
|
184%
|
|
85+
|
425,657
|
629,241
|
1,297,890
|
872,233
|
205%
|
|
Totals
|
4,742,499
|
6,410,789
|
12,043,391
|
7,300,892
|
154%
|
Table 3
A Snapshot
of Older Californians Age 65+ 2000
With high school diploma or higher1
|
70.1%
|
Limited English proficiency2
|
16.9%
|
Medi-Cal beneficiaries2
|
20%
|
Below poverty level2
|
8.1%
|
Poor or near poor (0-199% of poverty)2
|
28.6%
|
Homeowners5
|
74.5%
|
Living alone2
|
26%
|
Women age 65+ living alone6
|
31.4%
|
Living in a nursing home2
|
3.2%
|
Number of grandparents responsible for basic
needs of grandchildren3
|
294,969
|
Proportion of Californians age 75 and older with
a driver’s license4
|
59.6%
|
Percent with any disability2
|
42.2%
|
Table 4
California’s
Projected Population Age 60+ as a Percent of Total Population by Race
and Ethnicity
|
Racial/Ethnic Group
|
2005
|
2010
|
2020
|
2030
|
2040
|
White/Non-Hispanic
|
64.2%
|
60%
|
52.7%
|
44%
|
36.1%
|
Hispanic/Latino
|
16.6%
|
18.8%
|
23.5%
|
30%
|
37.5%
|
Asian
|
11.6%
|
13%
|
14%
|
15.6%
|
16.8%
|
Black/African American
|
5.5%
|
5.6%
|
5.7%
|
5.7%
|
5.3%
|
Multiracial
|
1.1%
|
1.3%
|
1.5%
|
1.6%
|
1.6%
|
American Indian/Alaska Native
|
0.7%
|
0.8%
|
1.2%
|
1.5%
|
1.8%
|
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander
|
0.2%
|
0.3%
|
0.3%
|
0.4%
|
0.5%
|
Source:
State of California, Department of Finance. Race/Ethnic
Population with Age and Sex Detail, 2000-2050,
Sacramento, CA. May 2004.
In the late 1990s,
California’s White, non-Latino population became a minority group
for the first time since the 1849 Gold Rush. California’s older
adults are and will continue to grow ethnically and culturally
diverse. While 64 percent of older adults are White/non-Latino
today, by 2040, the majority will be from groups now considered to be
ethnic minorities.
Age
Distribution in California
California’s
anticipated population growth by 2020: 172 percent.
By 2020, the
population of seniors age 85 and older is expected to increase by
200 percent.
In 2004, 5.1 million
Californians were over age 60, representing 14.4 percent of the
total 35.9 million state population. Of that number, 1.3 million
were over age 75 and 500,000 were age 85 and over.
By 2050, life
expectancy in California is expected to increase from 78.8 to 84.2.
Gender Demographics
Currently at and
below age 45, males outnumber females by 5 percent. By age 65,
females outnumber males by 40 percent and by three-to-one at age 90.
In 2004, the ratio of
women over 60 to men over 60 was 128/100.
Older women are at
increased risk of poverty, poor health, and social challenges due to
their longer lifespan.
The gender gap is
expected to decline by 2050, with the gap between men and women
dropping to just 14 percent at age 65 and falling to 50 percent in
Californians over 90.
Racial Demographics
In 2004, California’s
minority population represented 35 percent of the state’s total.
With the growth
anticipated by 2020, the largest change in the state’s aging
ethnic population will be in the population of older Hispanic and
Asian Americans.
A three-fold increase
is anticipated by 2020 in the older Hispanic population, making this
the largest ethnic group of California seniors.
Growth of the
non-Hispanic white population is expected to increase by 50 percent.
A change of only 1
percent -- from 5 percent to 6 percent -- is projected in the
population of non-English speaking seniors.
Income and Poverty Rates
The average income of
elderly Californians is about $25,500.
U.S. natives living
in California received approximately $6,000 more per year in income
during 2000 than U.S. natives nationwide, and foreign-born
Californians’ income was approximately $6,000 less than the
national average.
California poverty
rates are lower than in other states; however, poverty rates have
increased since 1990 in all but the oldest cohort (those 85 and
over).
Approximately 13
percent of California seniors were employed in 2003, with 20 percent
of seniors’ incomes coming from their own earnings.
Many older
Californians are expected to work beyond age 65 due to inadequate
savings.
Social Security
accounts for 28 percent of older Californians’ incomes.
Between 2020 and
2050, the percentage of older Californians with a higher education
is expected to remain static, in contrast to an expected 20 percent
to 24 percent increase in seniors without a high school diploma.
Health and Disability
Disability rates
among older Californians and elders nationwide is decreasing.
Currently 17 percent
of elders are unable to perform basic self-care functions; the
number is expected to drop to 12 percent by 2030.
Housing Needs
In 2000, 58 percent
of California’s seniors resided with a spouse, 25 percent lived
alone, 14 percent lived in a family setting and 2.5 percent lived in
a nursing facility.
82 percent of elders
living outside of an institution owned their own homes in 2000; 18
percent rented their homes.
Home ownership among
the elderly is expected to rise from about 3 million to 9 million by
2050 in relation to the general population increase.
Nursing home
occupancy is expected to double by 2050 (from 90,000 in 2000 to
approximately 170,000).
Geographic Location
The Los Angeles Basin and
the San Francisco Bay Area are now home to about two-thirds of the
state’s older population and that will likely continue over the
next 40 years. While every region, except the most rural areas of
the state, is expected to experience strong growth in its 60+
population, the largest increases are predicted for the Los Angeles
Basin and the San Joaquin Valley, where the number of older people is
expected to almost triple by 2040.
Currently, the age
dependency ratio does not vary much by region. The exception is the
Sacramento Valley-North Coast-Mountain region, which has 25 seniors
per 100 working-age adults compared to the state average of 18 per
100. By 2040, the rapidly aging Bay Area population is projected to
become the oldest area of the state, with 41 older adults per 100
working-age adults.
Information
derived from:
Strategic
Plan for an Aging California Population; Getting Ready for the “Baby
Boomers,” California
Health and Human Service Agency, October 2003
California
State Plan on Aging 2005-2006, California
Health and Human Service Agency
Fault
Lines in the Shifting Landscape; the Future of Growing Older in
California-2010,
Institute for the Future and the Archstone Foundation, November 1999
State
Profiles, National
Aging Program Information System, Administration on Aging
__________________________________________
PARENT EDUCATION
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