By the Numbers: Spending Habits of Older Americans

"It’s no secret that people’s needs and spending habits change over time. For Older Americans Month, we took a look into the data to highlight some of the spending changes.  Check out these Consumer Expenditure Survey fast facts and see how your spending stacks up to those of the older generation:

• Older households are more apt to be homeowners (79 percent) than younger households (57 percent). Please note: By “older households,” we mean those with a reference person (often the principal homeowner or renter) 65 years and older, and by “younger households” we mean those with a reference person under 65 years.

• Housing is the greatest expense, both in dollar amount ($15,529) and as a share of the household budget (34.8 percent) among older households.

• Older and younger households are similar in that 85 percent of older households and 88 percent of younger households own or lease at least one vehicle.

• Transportation expenses among older households, however, are lower in dollar amount ($6,846) and as a share of the household budget (15.3 percent) compared with younger households ($10,310 and 17.4 percent, respectively). That’s probably because older households have fewer earners and would be less likely to have job-related transportation costs.

• Because older households have fewer earners, pensions and Social Security costs are much lower in dollar amount ($2,401) and as a share of the household budget (5.4 percent) among older households compared with younger households ($7,118 and 12 percent).

• Out-of-pocket healthcare expenses are higher in dollar amount ($5,766) and as a share of the household budget (12.9 percent) among older households compared with younger households ($3,912 and 6.6 percent)...."

Older Americans and spending

Intelligence Community Spending: Trends and Issues

"This report examines Intelligence Community (IC) funding over the past several decades, with an emphasis on the period from 2007-2017—the period in which total national and military intelligence program (NIP and MIP) spending dollars have been publicly disclosed on an annual basis. Intelligence-related spending (such as the Homeland Security Intelligence Program) that does not fall within the NIP and MIP is outside the scope of this report.

Total intelligence spending is usually understood as the combination of (1) the National Intelligence Program (NIP), which covers the programs, projects, and activities of the intelligence community oriented towards the strategic needs of decision makers, and (2) the Military Intelligence Program (MIP), which funds defense intelligence activity intended to support tactical military operations and priorities.."
Intelligence spending

Spending Habits by Generation

"Move over, baby boomers: millennials are now America’s largest generation.* Over the past few years, my colleagues and I at the Bureau of Labor Statistics have gotten a lot of questions about millennials’ spending habits. As more millennials enter the workforce, the purchasing power of this generation increases, and both marketers and researchers are interested in how millennials choose to spend their paychecks.

So we decided to start sorting our data on American spending habits by generation two years ago. We now have a much better idea of household spending for millennials, Gen X, baby boomers, the Silent Generation and Greatest Generation..."
Spending habits

Trends in Child Care Spending from the CCDF and TANF

"The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is the main source of federal funding dedicated primarily to child care subsidies for low-income working families. The term “CCDF” was coined in regulation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to encompass multiple child care funding streams, including
 federal discretionary child care funds authorized by the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act,
 federal mandatory child care funds authorized by Section 418 of the Social Security Act (sometimes referred to as the “Child Care Entitlement to States”),
 state maintenance-of-effort (MOE) and matching funds associated with the Child Care Entitlement to States, and
 federal funds transferred to the CCDF from states’ Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grants..."
Child care spending

A closer look at spending patterns of older Americans

"The aging of the United States population will influence the economy for many years to come. The Census Bureau projects that in 2050, the population aged 65 and older will be 83.7 million, almost double its estimate of 43.1 million in 2012.¹

This article examines the spending patterns of households with a reference person² age 55 and older. Age 55 was chosen because the article focuses on spending changes that occur as household members age and transition to retirement as well as during retirement. Understanding expenditure patterns in later life is crucial to evaluating financial security in retirement. This analysis uses integrated data from the 2014 Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE), which separates the 55-and-older age range into three groups:  ages 55–64, 65–74, and 75 and older..."
Older Americans

Public Spending on Transportation and Water Infrastructure, 1956 to 201

"Public spending—spending by federal, state, and local governments—on transportation and water infrastructure totaled $416 billion in 2014. Most of that spending came from state and local governments: They provided $320 billion, and the federal government accounted for $96 billion. This report provides information on spending for six types of transportation and water infrastructure: Highways, Mass transit and rail, Aviation, Water transportation, Water resources, and Water utilities..."
Transportation spending

U.S. Universities Report Highest-ever R&D Spending in Fiscal Year 2011

"The National Science Foundation released a report today showing that university spending on research and development in all fields continued to increase between fiscal years (FY) 2010 and 2011, reaching $65 billion in FY 2011. This figure represents a 6.3 percent increase from the previous year and includes $4.2 billion in expenditures associated with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009..."
U.S. Universities R&D Spending:2011

How do U.S. expenditures compare with those of other countries?

"In Japan, consumers spent more than 17 percent of every yen on groceries, more than twice the 8.3 percent of every dollar that Americans spent. In the United States, households spent almost 7 cents of every dollar on health care, compared with just 1.4 pence of every pound in the United Kingdom. This article compares how consumers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan allocated different shares of total spending to categories such as food, housing, and transportation in 2009. Such variation can be expected, given differences in cultural tastes, the relative availability of goods and services, and institutional factors, such as government regulation and tax laws, among those countries. As shown in chart 1, housing and health care shares of total expenditures were higher in the United States than in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan in 2009, whereas Americans had the lowest clothing (or apparel) share. Canada had the highest clothing and transportation shares, and Japan had the highest food share, among the countries compared..."

Promotional Spending for Prescription Drugs
"Pharmaceutical companies’ efforts to promote prescription drugs have attracted the attention of policymakers because such activities may affect the rate at which different drugs are prescribed and consumed, the total amount spent on health care, and, ultimately, health outcomes. Those promotional activities—usually undertaken on behalf of brand-name, rather than generic, drugs—may
influence consumers and health care professionals through a variety of channels. For example, advertisements for prescription drugs that are aimed at consumers may prompt individuals to seek medical treatment they might otherwise have delayed. Such advertisements may also influence
individuals to request a specific drug that is higher or lower in price or that is more or less effective than one they had previously used. Promotional efforts aimed at physicians may help them keep abreast of the latest drug therapies and improve their ability to treat patients. Those
efforts may also lead doctors to prescribe brand-name medications that are more expensive than alternatives..."