If you listened only to the cable news debates on the future of Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid, you’d never know. If you read only about the policy proposals to cut these valuable programs, you’d never know. Even if you followed the media coverage of the new U.S. Census Bureau data on poverty released this week, you’d never know that our country is facing a serious and growing senior poverty crisis.
A total of 6.4 million people age 65 and over (15 percent of all people 65 and over) are living in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Supplemental Poverty Measure. That’s 6.4 million of our mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts, grandmothers, and grandfathers who struggle daily to afford food and rent, to access needed health care and long-term services and supports, to remain connected to their families and their communities.
Older women of color are especially impacted by poverty. Twice as many women as men live in poverty and the numbers of women living in extreme poverty has increased by 20 percent since 2011. Under the official poverty rate (which actually undercounts poverty’s impact on the nation’s seniors), over 20 percent of black and Hispanic older women live in poverty.
As has been widely reported, the demographics of our country are changing. Every day 10,000 people in America turn 65. By 2030 there will be 72 million seniors living in America. If the current poverty rate of 15 percent among this group holds, there will be more than 11 million seniors living in poverty just 16 years from now.
Unfortunately, in the future, poverty rates among seniors may actually be higher for a number of reasons.
A Changed Economy
In the last 30 years, wages have stagnated. Saving has become more difficult for working Americans. Company-paid pensions are being phased out for most workers and there is nothing to replace them. The impact of these changes on families and working-age individuals is serious and it will only increase as they reach retirement. Also, having a lower-income during working years means a decreased ability to save and, ultimately, less support and fewer resources later in life.
An Economic Recovery That Didn’t Reach Many
The recent recession created an additional set of problems for seniors and near seniors. For example, because of the housing crisis, many people aged 50 to 65 lost equity in their homes. People in this age group also are among the most likely to have lost a job and had trouble finding a new one. They may have had to live off of whatever savings or retirement funds they had while they were unemployed. Facing economic struggles, they were more likely to take Social Security benefits early, which decreases the value of their benefits over time.
The rising costs of health care present a serious financial challenge to retirees who have little retirement income or savings. Add to that the fact that at least 70 percent of seniors will require some type of long-term services and supports in their lifetime and few have the ability to afford it, and it’s clear that a senior poverty crisis is imminent.
What Kind of Society Do De Want to Live in?
Before Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid were adopted, the poverty rate among seniors in our country neared 40 percent. Returning to those levels of poverty among the oldest members of our communities would be catastrophic for seniors, families, and the economy.
But that’s exactly where we might be headed if we adopt the narrative of cable news shows, budget-cutting lawmakers, and television commercials that suggest American seniors are doing just fine. Instead we must educate our friends, families, colleagues, and policymakers. We need them to know that a growing number of seniors are facing an economically insecure future—and that cutting programs like Social Security, SSI, Medicare, and Medicaid will only exacerbate the problem.
So now you know: senior poverty is a real and growing problem in America. If you want to live in a society in which people can age in dignity and no senior has to decide between food and the medicine they need, let’s start talking about senior poverty. Help build the momentum necessary to preserve and expand access to health care, long-term services and support, social services, and economic security programs for the millions of low-income seniors who struggle among us.