The main feature is the increase of nearly two million in the number of elderly households in the period 1961 to 1981.

There are also about 94,200 elderly households living in controlled housing.

Already Westchester has more than 37,000 elderly households in which the income level is less than that needed to afford median rent.

First, it is most likely to persist in non-white, single-mother, and elderly households.

"Some communities can house elderly households in assisted housing almost immediately, while some have long waiting lists," the report found.

The changing age structure, with people living longer, is producing an increasingly large proportion of elderly households often containing only one person.

To give you a sense: the Treasury's example of a "lower income" elderly household was one receiving $2,000 a year in dividend income.

Some 31 per cent of elderly households consist of such married couples.

They're important for rural areas, the elderly, small households and families below median income.

Spending by elderly households makes up an increasingly large proportion of overall consumption.