Census: Europe Single Largest Source of Older Foreign-Born Population.

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 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.

To view report CLICK below:

http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/foreign/cps2000.html