During Older Americans Month, Let's Focus on Keeping the Elderly Out of Poverty

By Deborah Weinstein, The Huffington Post

May 1, 2009

May is Older Americans Month. While there is much to celebrate about our elders' many historic contributions, the recession's toll is making this group - particularly older women - feel anything but festive.

Consider these disturbing facts:

• According to the most recent federal data, 23 percent of women 65 and older who live alone are poor compared with 16 percent of men. (That means their annual income is $10,590 or lower). Overall, 11.4 percent of elderly women and 6.9 percent of elderly men live in poverty. Those numbers are almost certainly higher today, given that the data was collected in 2007 - before the recession began. 

• Even without the recession, the official Census numbers on the elderly poor likely underestimate the actual number of those living in poverty since the federal poverty measure does not factor in out-of-pocket medical expenses, which hit the elderly especially hard. When New York City adopted its own poverty measure last year, which includes out-of-pocket medical expenses, the poverty rate for elderly New Yorkers (persons 65 and older) soared, from 18.1 percent under the federal measure to 32 percent under the New York measure.

• Although unemployment for older workers is less than for the population as a whole it has risen sharply in the past year. The unemployment rate for adults age 65 and older reached 6.8 percent in February (PDF), the highest level recorded since the federal government began tracking the data in 1948.

• Retirement nest eggs have shrunk dramatically. People in the 55-64 age range who are in the bottom 20 percent for net wealth have lost virtually all the equity in their homes and seen their net wealth drop (PDF) from a very modest $8,300 in 2004 to $1,200 in 2009. The next fifth up on the income scale saw their net wealth cut in half during the same period. Even defined benefit pensions have lost value due to stock market declines. 

For older women the situation is especially dire since they are more likely to live alone and do not receive as much Social Security as men - an average of $11,316 compared with $14,987 for men. With the declines in home equity and financial assets, Social Security is becoming a far more important, but inadequate source of income for older people. A study by Wider Opportunities for Women found that Social Security covers just 56 percent of living costs for older woman renters and 74 percent for older male renters. 

There is much that can be done to change this bleak picture, starting with an unflagging commitment to an economic recovery that includes government investments in our oldest and most vulnerable citizens. That means:

• Recognizing that more people will be working past retirement age, but are unlikely to be earning enough to cover basic needs, such as rent, groceries and medical expenses. These workers should be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit for workers without children. Workers over 65 are currently ineligible.

• Establishing more home care options and low-cost senior rental housing for seniors who can no longer afford to move to more suitable living situations - such as assisted living - as a result of their dwindling home equity. 

• Setting up targeted outreach programs to connect elders to benefits they are eligible for, such as food stamps and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program. Recent increases in food stamps make it more worthwhile for elders to go though the effort of applying.

• Continuing funding for home energy assistance and recognizing the critical importance of protecting elders from the increasing costs likely to result from government efforts to combat climate change.

As we show how much we value the elders among us in the coming month, our country must commit to making the investments in services and programs that are most valuable to those struggling every day to get by on increasingly less.

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