Table 1:

Key Demographic Characteristics of the United States and West Virginia (WV) Near Elderly (50–64 Years) Populations, 2003

	U.S.† (n=30,889)		WV (n=511)
Characteristic	%	SE (%)	%	SE (%)
Population size
% of total population aged 50–64***	14.7	0.1	18.0	0.7
% growth in population aged 50–64, 1994–2003***	13.6	0.1	17.5	1.2
Uninsurance rate*	13.7	0.2	17.0	1.7
Employment
Employed, full-time (35+hours/week)***	53.5	0.3	39.3	2.2
Employed, part-time (<35 hours/week)*	9.0	0.2	6.7	1.1
Self-employed***	11.1	0.2	6.5	1.1
Unemployed**	2.8	0.1	1.4	0.5
Retired**	12.6	0.2	18.2	1.7
Other not in labor force‡*	7.2	0.1	10.8	1.4
Living in poverty (<100% federal poverty level)***	8.3	0.2	17.2	1.7
Health status
Excellent/very good***	52.9	0.3	36.6	2.1
Good	28.3	0.3	30.7	2.0
Fair/poor***	18.8	0.2	32.7	2.1

Source: Current Population Survey, 2004. The 1995 Current Population Survey data, used to calculate change in the near elderly population, included 19,560 U.S. and 265 WV near elderly. All rates are based on weighted data. The complex survey design is corrected for using StataSE version 9.1 software.

Differences between WV and the rest of the United States significant at the

^*p≤.05

^**p≤.01, or

^***p≤.001 levels.

^†U.S. data exclude WV.

^‡Includes homemakers, full-time students, and those not working due to disability.