Food Spending Depends on Age and Income
Noel Blisard and Hayden
Stewart
By 2030, about 24 percent of the U.S. population
will be age 65 or older, compared with 12 percent
today. How will an aging population affect how much
and what types of food are purchased? A new ERS
report found that per person food spending increases
until the head of household turns 65. For example,
in 2004, households with a head age 25-34 had an
average per capita household income of $19,401 and
spent $1,918 per person on total food (food purchased
in grocery stores and in restaurants and other eating
places). In contrast, those with heads age 55-64
had an average per capita income of $31,914 and
averaged $2,719 per person on food. After age 65,
income and per person food expenditures declined.
Households with heads 65 and older,
however, outspent younger households in some at-home
food categories: cereal and bakery products, dairy
products, and miscellaneous prepared foods. In the
latter category, one of the biggest differences
was for frozen meals. Households with a head age
65 or older spent about $21 per person per year
on frozen meals versus $15 per person in households
headed by someone age 55-64 and $11 per person in
households with a head age 25-34.
|
Spending on
eating out reflects lifestyles and income |
| |
Age of household
head in years |
|
Food item |
25-34 |
35-44 |
45-54 |
55-64 |
65 and
older |
| |
|
|
Total food |
1,918 |
1,941 |
2,511 |
2,719 |
2,477 |
|
Food away from home |
812 |
733 |
975 |
1,072 |
826 |
|
Food at home |
1,106 |
1,208 |
1,536 |
1,648 |
1,651 |
Cereal and bakery
|
153 |
172 |
210 |
216 |
240 |
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs
|
286 |
321 |
420 |
444 |
419 |
Dairy
|
120 |
138 |
167 |
186 |
193 |
Fruit and vegetables
|
189 |
197 |
260 |
299 |
316 |
Miscellaneous prepared foods
|
192 |
200 |
237 |
242 |
247 |
|
Source: USDA, Economic Research
Service analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics’
2004 Consumer Expenditure Survey. |
Fruit and vegetables is another
category where households headed by older Americans
outspent younger households. The largest dollar
difference in the fruit and vegetable category occurred
for processed fruit, where households with heads
older than 64 averaged $61 per person per year versus
$54 for households with a head age 55-64.
Will these patterns continue as
today’s baby boomers and Generation X-ers
age? Perhaps not. Aging brings some changes in food
choices, but these choices are also shaped by life
experiences and eating habits. Younger Americans
may have formed different eating patterns than their
grandparents did when they were young. This future
generation of older Americans may have different
eating patterns than today’s older generation.
|
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