UCLA Study Says California's Single Seniors Can't
Make Ends Meet
Recession likely to put those living alone at even
greater economic risk
Feb. 25, 2009 - Nearly half a million elderly
living alone in California cannot make ends meet, according to a new
policy brief by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the
Insight Center for Community Economic Development. These senior
citizens, the report says, lack sufficient income to pay for a minimum
level of housing, food, health care, transportation and other basic
expenses.
Strongly opposed to privatizing Social Security, will
ask those making over $250,000 to contribute a bit more to Social
Security to keep it sound
Feb. 16, 2009 The White House has posted an
Agenda on WhiteHouse.gov that includes a heading for Seniors & Social
Security, although it covers more than just the administrations views
on the retirement program.
Read more...
In
2007, the family poverty rate and the number of families in poverty were
9.8 percent and 7.6 million, respectively, both statistically unchanged
from 2006
Aug. 25, 2008 The number of seniors citizens (age
65 and older) in the U.S. living in poverty jumped to 3.6 million in
2007, up from 3.4 million in 2006. The percentage of all seniors living
in poverty increased from 9.4 percent to 9.7 percent from 2006 to 2007
an increase the Census Bureau calls statistically unchanged.
Read
more...
The brief, "Half-Million Older Californians Living
Alone Unable to Make Ends Meet," was released yesterday at a state
legislative hearing on the growing economic plight of California's
seniors jointly held by Assemblyman Jim Beall Jr. (D-San Jose), chairman
of the Human Services Committee, and Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal
(D-Long Beach), chairwoman of the Aging and Long-Term Care Committee.
More than 1 million seniors, both living alone and
with family members, can't make ends meet, according to recent research.
The center's policy brief looks at the most vulnerable group seniors
living alone while the hearing features county-by-county data on all
seniors.
The policy brief research is based on 2007 data,
the last time comprehensive, statewide data was collected. But the
numbers of affected seniors are likely to be even higher today as the
current recession deepens, according to the brief's authors.
"As the economy wipes out retirement savings and
destroys home equity, our parents and grandparents will find paying for
a roof over their heads and affording basic necessities even more of a
struggle," said Steven P. Wallace, Ph.D., associate director of the
Center for Health Policy Research and lead author of the policy brief.
The brief includes county estimates of the
percentage of economically vulnerable seniors. Those estimates show that
elder economic insecurity is a problem in both more and less affluent
counties: The two counties with the highest elder economic insecurity
are Imperial and San Francisco.
The findings in the policy brief are based on the
Elder Economic Security Standard Index (Elder Index) for California, a
tool that measures the actual cost of basic necessities for older adults
in each of California's 58 counties. The Elder Index is viewed by many
as a more accurate measure of economic security than federal poverty
level (FPL) guidelines, a standardized national estimate that does not
take into account the cost of living in high-cost states such as
California.
Policymakers, advocates, service providers and
foundations are using the Elder Index to improve programs and policies
for older adults across California.
"This data provides an empirical way to demonstrate
what those in the community witness daily: Increasingly, our elders
cannot get by," said Susan E. Smith, director of Californians for
Economic Security at the Insight Center and one of the co-authors of the
policy brief. "We are using the information on the ground to promote the
Elder Economic Dignity Act of 2009 this legislative season in
Sacramento."
Among the findings:
Most older renters can't make ends meet
Older renters were more than twice as likely to be
economically insecure as those who owned their homes and had paid off
their mortgages (70.4 percent of older single renters were insecure,
compared with 34.4 percent of homeowners without mortgages).
Latino elders at risk
About three-fourths of Latino elders who lived
alone, and almost half of those who lived with only a spouse, could not
cover their basic costs of living.
Women at risk
Older women accounted for 72 percent of all older
Californians who lived alone. Those women were more likely than older
men to be unable to cover their basic needs (53.5 percent of women,
compared with 44 percent of men).
The very old at risk
A majority of all single elders aged 75 or older
were economically insecure, regardless of ethnicity. More than 90
percent of female single renters aged 75 and older who were Latino or
Asian had incomes below the Elder Index, as did two-thirds of all white
single renters and 85 percent of all African American single renters
aged 75 and older.
FPL indicates only half of what is needed
In 2007, the nationwide federal poverty level
(FPL), used to determine eligibility for public assistance, was $10,210
for a single adult living alone. According to Elder Index calculations,
however, the average minimum income needed by a single older Californian
who rented was $21,011.
Seniors could benefit most immediately from more
affordable housing, the single biggest expense and one that often forces
the elderly to make "untenable choices," according to Wallace.
"If there is little or no money left over once rent
is paid, what do you chose in terms of other basic necessities? Do you
fill a prescription or buy healthy food?" Wallace said. "Hundreds of
thousands of seniors have to make these hard choices every day."
Wallace also urged that older Californians who live
alone and are on Supplemental Security Income should receive full food
stamps benefits, which would help reduce their food costs. Policymakers
should also raise the eligibility levels for programs that pay elders'
Medicare premiums, which would reduce the costs of health care, Wallace
said.
The Insight Center for Community Economic
Development is a 40-year-old national research, legal and consulting
organization dedicated to building economic health in vulnerable
communities.
The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research is one
of the nation's leading health policy research centers and the premier
source of health-related information on Californians.
Keep up with the latest news for senior citizens, baby
boomers
Feb. 25, 2009 - Nearly half a million elderly
living alone in California cannot make ends meet, according to a new
policy brief by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the
Insight Center for Community Economic Development. These senior
citizens, the report says, lack sufficient income to pay for a minimum
level of housing, food, health care, transportation and other basic
expenses.