Consumer Spending by Older Americans

The population of the United States is growing older. Because of the ageing of the population and the decline in income that occurs when people retire, both the amount and the composition of spending by American households could change substantially as the 76 million members of the baby boom generation reach retirement age. This book presents data on spending by Americans aged 55 and older collected by the U S Department of Labor through its Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES). From 1985 to 2005, the average annual expenditures of older Americans rose along with their incomes, and the distribution of spending among expenditure categories changed. These changes were the result of changing tastes and preferences among consumers and differences in the rates of price increase among various classes of goods and services.