More seniors are being pushed into poverty — here’s why

marketwatch ^ | 10/21/2022

[devane617]

A terrible thing is happening to America’s seniors.

While overall poverty rates in the United States are falling, they are rising for Americans over age 65.

That’s according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data, which says the share of older people living below the poverty line rose to 10.3% in 2021, up from 8.9% in 2020.

The increase means that an additional 1 million older adults have fallen below the poverty threshold, bringing the total number of seniors in that unfortunate category to nearly 6 million, according to an analysis by the National Council on Aging (NCOA).

“We are deeply dismayed,” says Ramsey Alwin, NCOA’s president and CEO, in a statement. “This increase shines a glaring spotlight on the fact that Social Security and Medicare, the bedrock of retirement security for so many, are not sufficient to lift all older adults above poverty.”

Also dismayed—but not surprised—is Mary Johnson of the Senior Citizens League, a Washington-based advocacy group. “The Census Bureau report confirms what we have been fearing,” she tells MarketWatch. “Our surveys in 2021 and 2022 have indicated that a rising number of retirees report that they have spent through emergency savings and have applied for safety net programs. In fact, the number of survey participants who say they have applied for SNAP or visited a food pantry over the past 12 months is 33% compared to 22% a year ago. The number who say they have applied for rental assistance has almost doubled, from 5% in 2021 to 9% in 2022. Those who have applied for heating assistance up from 10% to 17%.”

[devane617]

fyi

[Red Badger]

Intentional Elder Abuse...................

[Jim W N]

One word: GOVERNMENT.

Government promises you everything but takes all the money and freedom it can away from you.

[devane617]

This is sad and happened in less than 2 years.

[TexasGator]

“Intentional Elder Abuse...................”

What abuse?

[devane617]

I would like to seeee this broken down by race. I suspect whites make up the majority of those pushed into poverty.

[cgbg]

Inflation is always brutal for seniors—particularly those who are renters (since rents in inflationary times always rise much faster than their incomes).

[Gaffer]

What is the dollar amount poverty line for seniors over 65?

[Skywise]

Heckuva job, Brandon.

[Red Badger]

Pushing the elders into poverty..................

[PGR88]

Generations of Americans have been trained to rely on the nanny-state, socialism, and progressive government.

But socialism and progressive government always fails

[ProudDeplorable]

"The central bank is an institution of the most deadly hostility existing against the Principles and form of our Constitution. I am an Enemy to all banks discounting bills or notes for anything but Coin. If the American People allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the People of all their Property until their Children will wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered." ~ Thomas Jefferson.

[combat_boots]

$ and COVID

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/the-middle-class-is-dying-50-percent-of-all-american-workers-made-less-than-3133-a-month-last-year/

[rlmorel]

I don’t know what the confusion is about with the “Why?”

Fixed incomes. Skyrocketing inflation. Dropping purchasing power.

Not hard to figure out.

[AZJeep]

Social security is mostly below poverty level. Average SS is about ~$1,700, maximum ~$3,000. That’s a lot less than the $15 an hour claimed to be living wage.
People must have savings to augment it!
With inflation and market collapse, savings are highly affected, so more people end up in poverty!

[Jeff Chandler]

America's Covid Strategy

[Opinionated Blowhard]

his increase shines a glaring spotlight on the fact that Social Security and Medicare, the bedrock of retirement security for so many, are not sufficient to lift all older adults above poverty.”

A million words that try to sound like an insightful analysis. We don't need them. The answer is that government completely screwed up the retirement system in America. First, Social Security and Medicare were never supposed to take care of all of the seniors needs during retirement. They were a supplement and safety net. Not 100% of retirement income. But the government makes it hard for seniors to save with confiscatory tax policies. So it drives seniors into relying on Social Security and other government programs. Its such a complete mess.

[T Ruth]

The fraudulent President, Joe Biden, says economy is ‘strong as hell’ while eating ice cream in Portland

[1FreeAmerican]

$15/hr less FICA and other taxes is less than that max SS number you state after taxes with no FICA.

Less than the wifey’s and will be less than mine. Throw in that part time gig and more time to concentrate on spending less we’ll be ok - for awhile.

That said all of us are about to be screwed big time.

[T Ruth]

Biden's "strong as hell" economy:

"It’s hardly a coincidence that this deterioration in the finances of seniors has corresponded with a sharp jump in the cost of living. The current consumer-price index (CPI) shows inflation galloping along at an 8.2% annual rate. But as anyone who, well, eats, knows, one of most important components within the CPI—food prices—are rising a lot faster than inflation: 13.5% for the year ended in August, according to recent Labor Department data. And with temperatures falling, heating prices are rising even faster."