U.S. Elderly by the numbers
9 percent
The percent of people 65 and older who were in poverty in 2010. There were 3.5 million seniors in poverty in 2010.
40.3 million
The number of people who were 65 and older in the United States on April 1, 2010, accounting for 13 percent of the total population. In 2010, this age group was larger than in any other decennial census, up from 31.2 million in 1990 and 35 million in 2000.
88.5 million
Projected population of people 65 and older in 2050. People in this age group would comprise 20 percent of the total population at that time.
42 percent
The percentage of the 65 and older population expected to be a minority — a group other than single race, non-Hispanic white — in 2050, more than double the percentage in 2010 (20 percent). Likewise, among those 85 and older, 33 percent are projected to be a minority in 2050, up from 15 percent in 2010.
6.7 million
Number of people 65 and older who were in the labor force in 2010. Projections indicate that by 2018, the number will reach 11.1 million.
16.1 percent
Percentage of people 65 and older in the labor force in 2010.
70 percent
Percentage of citizens 65 and older reporting casting a ballot in the 2008 presidential election. Along with those 45 to 64 (69 percent), people 65 and older had the highest turnout rate of any age group.
81 percent
Percentage of householders 65 and older who owned their homes as of fourth quarter 2011.
85-94
The fastest-growing age group among the older population in 2010, increasing from 3.9 million to 5.1 million.
601,000
Projected number of centenarians in the United States in 2050.
Source: Population projections
Gwendolyn Brown lives in a one-bedroom subsidized apartment in an Atlanta senior high rise, not far from where she grew up.
When a bad heart forced the 66-year-old woman to retire in 2010 from her job as a customer service representative, she didn’t have any savings.
Brown lives on $7,000 annually from Social Security and gets $15 a month in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps. She gets by — barely. But she’s looking for a part-time job.
Fifty years after President Lyndon B. Johnson launched his War on Poverty, seniors are doing better than they were in 1964, but there are still a number who are suffering, and Atlanta’s helping agencies have seen budget cuts and struggled through the recession.
Nearly one in three Americans 65 and older lived in Poverty in 1966, the Census Bureau says. That dropped to about one in 10 by 2012.
“It’s a safe generalization that the majority of low income people are doing better now than they were when the war on poverty began in the 1960s, ” said Philip N. Cohen, professor of sociology at the University of Maryland and a senior fellow at the Council on Contemporary Families. “For the elderly, the expansion of Medicare and the indexing of Social Security to inflation, so that the payments go up automatically, have brought major benefits to those with low incomes.”
In addition, Cohen said, Supplemental Security Income brings benefits to those who are unable to work because of health conditions.
Still, Cohen and local social service workers say despite the improvement, a disturbing number of older Americans still struggle to make ends meet.
“They’re not rock bottom poor nearly as much, or homeless very often, but millions are living close to the poverty line ($11,490 for an individual and $15,510 for a family of two) or barely getting by,” Cohen said. “If people are hungry and you give them food, you aren’t eliminating poverty. It just means they weren’t hungry that day.”
In the metro Atlanta region, the percentage of people 65 or older in poverty range from more than 20 percent in the city of Atlanta to about 8 percent in Gwinnett and 5 percent in Forsyth County, according to numbers from the Atlanta Regional Commission. And the overall poverty rate increased in recent years faster than other major metro areas, in part because of the recession.
Local agencies are getting more requests for help than they are able to provide. Meals on Wheels Atlanta serves about 300 meals a day primarily to low-income seniors, but has a waiting list of 170 people. Gwinnett County has more than 500 seniors waiting for services, including transportation, meals and respite care.
The number of seniors seeking emergency financial assistance — help with utilities, rent and other basic needs — through the Atlanta Regional Commission and partners, which include county-based agencies, rose more than 115 percent from 1,305 in 2006 to 2,812 in 2013.
Cohen said some older people are fettered with high out-of-pocket medical expenses. Its not unusual for children to live with grandparents. Or grown children are themselves poor or unemployed and unable to help aging parents.
“Because these problems are concentrated in certain communities, especially poor black communities in urban areas, and rural areas, these elderly people face a heightened set of problems,” Cohen said. “And of course, today’s older people were in their prime working ages sometimes in decades past, when race and gender inequality were even greater, and so their savings and wealth assets will reflect that historic discrimination even today.”
James Burnett, a retired administrator, has six children and none of them is able to help financially.
“They’re struggling, too,” he said.
It could get worse as programs designed to help seniors continue to feel the budgetary pinch.
For instance, Jamie Cramer, manager for Gwinnett Senior Services, said it has been a tough two years for older adults.
“Due to federal budget cuts, we’ve lost $238,000 that goes to fund core services just in the last two years,” she said.
The number of Gwinnett County seniors has tripled since the 2000 census, from 46,216 to 106,600. If one in ten is in poverty that means the number of poor have increased also.
Kathryn Lawler, manager of the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Aging and Health Resources Division, said much has changed since the war on poverty began, including a rise in life expectancy. That means people’s savings have to stretch out longer. And he numbers don’t tell you about people who are having trouble meeting basic needs because basic needs, for example, now include medication, Lawler said.
When those programs started, people didn’t live as long as they live now.
“Even for folks who have resources, it can be very challenging to save enough to support you for 30 years,” she said.
Jeffrey M. Smythe, executive director of Meals on Wheels Atlanta, said most of the older Atlantans his organization serves “have so little and are trying to stretch every dollar,” Smythe said. “They often have to decide whether to skip a meal today or do I pay my utility bill?”
Smythe is concerned about the seniors that his nonprofit serves.
“These are not seniors who didn’t work and were on all kinds of subsidies,” he said. “There are hard-working individuals who find themselves without resources later in life. Many do get government benefits, but it’s not enough. Our seniors have borne the brunt of the economic downturn.”
Brown said: “I still have days where I don’t eat as well as I should. You have to watch your money as much as possible. I count every penny to the penny.”
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