19 Percent of Americans Between 55 and 64 Are Childless, Number Expected to Grow: Census

Over 19 percent of U.S. residents between the ages of 55 and 64 are childless, and that number is expected to grow, according to a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

Nearly one in six Americans age 55 and older are childless, according to the report that uses data from a 2018 survey. Of those, 85.2 percent were white and 79 percent were non-Hispanic white. Meanwhile, 15.9 percent of adults between ages 65 and 74 were childless, as were 10.9 percent of adults 75 and older.

"This suggests that childless adults will make up a greater share of the older adult population in the future and underscores the importance of research such as this study," the report stated.

"Childless older women appear to be in a more advantageous position than their male counterparts in later life," the report noted. "They have better self-rated health scores and higher personal net worth than childless men."

For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.

Older adults who are childless in the U.S. are more likely to be college educated, working and white than those with children, and their numbers are growing.

The Census Bureau's report is a first-of-its-kind.

The study was executed by the statistical agency to get a better understanding of childless adults because their numbers are growing due to declining marriage rates and an aging population. Although having children outside of marriage has become more common for young adults, marriage traditionally was considered a precursor to parenthood for the older generation, the Census Bureau said.

A greater share of childless older adults were non-Hispanic white compared with biological parents, 79 percent versus 72.8 percent, and they were overwhelmingly born in the U.S.—90 percent, compared with 84.7 percent for parents—according to the report.

When it came to physical health, about three-quarters of men and women with children, as well as childless women, said they had excellent, very good or good health. But that figure was lower for childless men, more than 71 percent.

Those older adults with children were more likely to be living with a spouse compared with childless older adults, while the childless were more likely to be living alone than parents, suggesting childless older adults have fewer sources of potential support in their homes, according to the report.

"As spouses and children are the primary sources of informal care in the United States...these discrepancies are concerning," the report said.

Net worth varied by sex among older adults. Childless women had the highest net worth, at $173,800, followed by biological fathers at $161,200, while the median net worth for everyone over age 55 was $133,500, the report said.

The higher net worth of childless older women may put them at a greater advantage to hire paid care, the report said.