Richard A.
and Easterlin, in Population and Development Re-
view (June 1987), The Population Council. 1
Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, N.Y.
10017.
In 1968, fully 25 percent of Americans over the age of 65 lived in poverty, but only 15 percent of children under 16 did so. In 1985, only 13 percent of the aged were poor, but 21 percent of children were in poverty.
Why are the elderly prospering and children not? Easterlin, an econo- mist at the University of Southern California, finds "independent...