In 2016, half of all people on Medicare had incomes less than $26,200.
The. U.S. Census Bureau currently reports two different measures of poverty: the official poverty measure and the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). Unlike the official poverty measure, the SPM reflects available financial resources and liabilities, including taxes, the value of in-kind benefits (e.g., food stamps), and out-of-pocket medical spending (generally higher among older adults), and geographic variations in housing costs. This analysis presents national and state estimates of poverty under both measures for adults ages 65 and older. Current estimates of poverty based on the SPM indicate that the share (and number) of older adults who are struggling financially is larger than is conveyed by the official poverty measure.
Under the SPM, 7.1 million adults ages 65 and older lived in poverty in 2016 (14.5%), compared to 4.6 million (9.3%) under the official poverty measure.
Nearly 21 million people ages 65 and older had incomes below 200% of poverty under the SPM in 2016 (42.4%), compared to 15 million (30.4%) under the official measure.
Under both the official measure and the SPM, the poverty rate among people ages 65 and older increased with age and was higher for women, blacks and Hispanics, and people in relatively poor health
Under the SPM, 4.4 million older women lived in poverty in 2016, 1.5 million more than under the official measure; 2.8 million older men lived in poverty under the SPM, 1.1 million more than under the official measure
Under the SPM, at least 15% of people ages 65 and older lived in poverty in 10 states (CA, FL, GA, HI, IN, LA, NJ, NM, TX, and VA) plus Washington, D.C. in 2016; under the official poverty measure, only D.C. had a poverty rate above 15% for older adults in 2016.
The. U.S. Census Bureau currently reports two different measures of poverty: the official poverty measure and the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). Unlike the official poverty measure, the SPM reflects available financial resources and liabilities, including taxes, the value of in-kind benefits (e.g., food stamps), and out-of-pocket medical spending (generally higher among older adults), and geographic variations in housing costs. This analysis presents national and state estimates of poverty under both measures for adults ages 65 and older. Current estimates of poverty based on the SPM indicate that the share (and number) of older adults who are struggling financially is larger than is conveyed by the official poverty measure.
Under the SPM, 7.1 million adults ages 65 and older lived in poverty in 2016 (14.5%), compared to 4.6 million (9.3%) under the official poverty measure.
Nearly 21 million people ages 65 and older had incomes below 200% of poverty under the SPM in 2016 (42.4%), compared to 15 million (30.4%) under the official measure.
Under both the official measure and the SPM, the poverty rate among people ages 65 and older increased with age and was higher for women, blacks and Hispanics, and people in relatively poor health
Under the SPM, 4.4 million older women lived in poverty in 2016, 1.5 million more than under the official measure; 2.8 million older men lived in poverty under the SPM, 1.1 million more than under the official measure
Under the SPM, at least 15% of people ages 65 and older lived in poverty in 10 states (CA, FL, GA, HI, IN, LA, NJ, NM, TX, and VA) plus Washington, D.C. in 2016; under the official poverty measure, only D.C. had a poverty rate above 15% for older adults in 2016.
- According to the OECD, America leads the club of rich nations in the provision of low wage jobs. According to the OECD, over one out of five jobs pay very low wages (two thirds the median wage). In comparison, less than 1 out of 7 of New Zealand’s jobs are low wage.
- The Social Security system rewards people for delaying claiming their Social Security benefits until the age of 70. Lifetime benefits rise by 70% if you delay claiming for 8 years between 62 and 70. But only 8% of Americans get the reward, most claim before 65.
- Most older Americans retire by the age of 65 according to our calculations.
- But, Americans retire at far lower rates than elders in other rich nations. Older Americans work hard – only American and Japanese elders and those in emerging nations have elder labor force participation rates over 30%.
- The jobs older Americans have aren’t great, 15% of older Americans with college educations earn less than $15 per hour.
- Despite the work, or because of it, American elder poverty rates top most nations, few nations exceed 20%.
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