For The Young At Heart, and HealthStyle Smart

The following are facts and statistics on the post age 55 "Senior" population that you may find useful in considering advertising strategies on SeniorSite.com. Please feel free to copy and use this information as part of your media presentation package to potential advertisers.

Senior Facts

Based on a total of 49,525,000 weekly Web users, 13 percent or 6,438,250 people are 50 years old and over. And the numbers are rising weekly!
(Media Metrix)

Seniors are the "Frequent Flyers" of the Health Care System.

By the year 2025, an estimated 18.1 percent of the population will be seniors.

Expenditures on prescription-drug coverage is one of the fastest rising components of health care spending.

Although seniors represent 15 percent of the population, they account for almost 40 percent of all prescriptions.

Seniors are more likely than younger people to be multiple-drug users.

Seniors reporting stress are more likely to report poor health and multiple drug use.

Seniors without helpful family and friends are more likely to have stressful lives and to be multiple drug users.

Most seniors are not heavy drinkers, but at the same time, 22 percent of seniors report drinking four or more drinks per week, compared to 11 percent for the general population.

It is estimated that 6 to 10 percent of seniors have significant alcohol problems.

Over 13 million US adults over the age of 50 have Internet access and this number is growing rapidly, according to a recent study conducted by Charles Schwab Inc. This figure represents 16.5 percent of the total online population in the US. The study found that 70 percent of US seniors who own a home computer surf the Web. Further, 40 percent of all US adults over the age of 50 have a computer at home, up from 29 percent in 1995. Of those seniors who access the Internet, 72 percent do so to use e-mail, 59 percent use it to research an issue of interest, 53 percent to access news and current affairs information, 47 percent to conduct travel research, and 43 percent to get weather updates. In addition, 40 percent of those surveyed said that using the Internet helped them to make better investment decisions. The findings are based on a random telephone survey of 600 adults age 50 and over and the error margin is 4 percent. 

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