Demographic Profile of Seniors in PSA 1-A - Detroit Area Agency on ...

Zone <strong>in</strong> 1990 was not there 10 years later. This dropped slightly to a loss <strong>of</strong> 33 percent <strong>of</strong>
persons 65 and over, and to 25 percent <strong>of</strong> persons 75 years and over.
Look<strong>in</strong>g at the three sub-zones it is apparent that the loss <strong>of</strong> elderly well outpaced general
population losses <strong>in</strong> the Central and Southwest zones, while the East zone, which lost the
highest percent <strong>of</strong> total residents, was better able to hold on to its elderly.
Table 32. Racial/Ethnic Composition <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Detroit</strong> Empowerment Zone, 2000
EZ Sub-Zones
Total
M<strong>in</strong>ority*
White
African
American
Non-Hispanic
Native Asian / PI
American
Other
race
Two or
more
races
Hispanic /
Lat<strong>in</strong>o
Total 86,769 75,207 11,562 56,662 343 758 123 1,318 16,003
East 33,616 32,378 1,238 31,576 64 59 51 360 268
Central 19,919 17,421 2,498 16,097 86 565 24 352 297
Southwest 33,234 25,408 7,826 8,989 193 134 48 606 15,438
Total 86.7 13.3 65.3 0.4 0.9 0.1 1.5 18.4
East 96.3 3.7 93.9 0.2 0.2 0.2 1.1 0.8
Central 87.5 12.5 80.8 0.4 2.8 0.1 1.8 1.5
Southwest 76.5 23.5 27.0 0.6 0.4 0.1 1.8 46.5
* M<strong>in</strong>ority is def<strong>in</strong>ed as anyone who is not White, non-Hispanic
The racial/ethnic composition <strong>of</strong> the empowerment zone’s sub-zones showed a great deal
<strong>of</strong> difference. The East sub-zone had the largest share <strong>of</strong> m<strong>in</strong>ority elderly – 96 percent –
which was made up almost entirely <strong>of</strong> African-Americans. The Central sub-zone
conta<strong>in</strong>ed a mix very similar to the city as a whole. M<strong>in</strong>orities made up 87.5 percent <strong>of</strong>
the population, with African-Americans represent<strong>in</strong>g 81 percent. Asians were slightly
over represented at 2.8 percent, while Lat<strong>in</strong>os were slightly underrepresented. The
Southwest sub-zone reflected the Lat<strong>in</strong>o <strong>in</strong>fluence <strong>in</strong> southwest <strong>Detroit</strong>, as Lat<strong>in</strong>os
accounted for 46.5 percent <strong>of</strong> the area’s seniors. The white population, conta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g a
number <strong>of</strong> ethnic groups, came <strong>in</strong> with a share double that <strong>of</strong> the city as a whole, while
African Americans accounted for just 27 percent <strong>of</strong> the total.
Table 33 charts the liv<strong>in</strong>g arrangements <strong>of</strong> seniors <strong>in</strong> the empowerment zone. Overall we
see a match between the numbers liv<strong>in</strong>g alone and those liv<strong>in</strong>g with at least one other
person. However, this distribution does not hold true across the sub-zones. The Central
sub-zone is worthy <strong>of</strong> attention because 69 percent <strong>of</strong> its seniors live alone. Such a liv<strong>in</strong>g
situation, as we have seen previously, tends to have a great deal <strong>of</strong> need associated with
it. There is an obvious need for target<strong>in</strong>g services to these, <strong>of</strong>ten isolated, seniors.
Table 34 looks at the poverty status <strong>of</strong> the zone’s seniors. The issue that becomes
immediately apparent is that seniors <strong>in</strong> the zone are <strong>in</strong> much worse f<strong>in</strong>ancial shape than
seniors as a whole <strong>in</strong> the city. The poverty rate for seniors across the city was shown to
have fallen from 19.0 percent <strong>in</strong> 1989 (1990 Census) to 17.8 percent <strong>in</strong> 1999. Poverty <strong>in</strong>
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