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Older Americans Are Richer Than Thought, Census Bureau Says

  • Experimental data shows more income, less poverty for over-65s
  • Census study also points to a wider generational divide

Older Americans may have higher incomes than previously thought, according to new experimental data that’s being developed by the US Census Bureau.

The Bureau this week published the first estimates from its National Experimental Wellbeing Statistics or NEWS, a project that aims to fix measurement errors in income and poverty data. The initial study looked at 2018 numbers, and the research team plans to extend the analysis to other years.