Poverty Among Americans Aged 65 And Older
Poverty Among the Population Aged 65 andOlderUpdated April 14, 2021Congressional Research Servicehttps://crsreports.congress.govR45791
SUMMARYPoverty Among the Population Aged 65 andOlderAmong the aged population (persons aged 65 and older) in the United States, the poverty rate(the percentage of individuals living in poverty, or economic hardship characterized by lowincome) has declined by over two-thirds in the past five decades. In 2019, approximately 8.9% ofaged individuals had income below the poverty thresholds (dollar amounts used to determinepoverty status). However, the number of aged poor has increased since the mid-1970s as the totalnumber of the aged population has grown. In 2019, 4.9 million people aged 65 and older lived inpoverty.R45791April 14, 2021Zhe LiAnalyst in Social PolicyJoseph DalakerAnalyst in Social PolicyThe poverty rate for the aged population historically was higher than the rates for younger groups, but the aged haveexperienced lower poverty rates than children under age 18 since 1974 and lower rates than adults aged 18-64 since the early1990s. In 2019, the 8.9% poverty rate among individuals aged 65 and older was lower than the 9.4% poverty rate amongadults aged 18-64 and the 14.4% poverty rate among children under 18 years old.Although the poverty rate has generally declined for the aged population in most demographic groups, certain subgroups ofthe aged population still had disproportionately higher poverty rates as of 2019. For example: People aged 80 and older have a higher poverty rate than other aged people. Approximately 11.1% ofpeople aged 80 and older lived in poverty, compared with poverty rates of 9.2% among individuals aged75-79, 7.4% among those aged 70-74, and 8.4% among those aged 65-69. Women aged 80 and older hadthe highest poverty rate among older women and men in all age groups at 13.6% for women aged 80 andolder. Individuals aged 65 and older who were not married at the time of the survey generally had a higherpoverty rate than those who were married and living together with spouses. Among women aged 65 andolder, about 14.4% of widows, 15.8% of divorced women, and 16.9% of never-married women had totalincomes below the official poverty threshold compared with 4.7% of married women. Among individualsaged 65 and older, poverty rates were also high among never-married men at 18.6%. Poverty rates vary by race and Hispanic origin. Hispanic origin is distinct from race, and people mayidentify with one or more races. In 2019, the poverty rate was 18.0% among those identifying as Black orAfrican American compared with 17.1% for those identifying as Hispanics, 9.3% for the Asian population,and 6.8% for the non-Hispanic White population.The official poverty measure used in the United States is defined using cash income only, before taxes, and is computedbased on food consumption in 1955 and food costs in 1961, indexed to inflation. That definition prevents the official measurefrom gauging the effects of noncash benefits, taxes, or tax credits on the low-income population, and it does not consider howcertain other costs, such as housing or medical expenses, might affect them as well. After decades of research, theSupplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) was developed to address some of the official poverty measure’s limitations. TheSPM poverty rate for the aged population is higher than the official poverty rate (12.8% compared with 8.9% in 2019). Thishigher poverty rate results largely from higher medical out-of-pocket costs among the aged.Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are the main federally funded programs that provide cash benefits tothe aged poor. They accounted for almost 90% of total money income received by the aged population whose incomes werebelow the poverty thresholds in 2019. The federal government also provides certain noncash benefits to help the aged poor,such as housing subsidies and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). In 2019, the SPM poverty rate amongindividuals aged 65 and older would increase by more than 32 percentage points if Social Security benefits were excludedfrom their income resources, holding other economic behaviors constant. Among the other resources, eliminating SSI,housing subsidies, or SNAP from income would each increase the SPM poverty rate by about one percentage point.Congressional Research Service
Poverty Among the Population Aged 65 and OlderContentsIntroduction . 1How the Official Poverty Measure Is Computed . 2Poverty Status of the Aged. 3Poverty Among the Aged by Demographic Characteristics . 6Age . 6Marital Status . 9Race and Hispanic Origin . 12Federal Programs for the Aged Poor. 14The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) . 17Income Sources’ Impact on Poverty of the Aged per the SPM. 19Additional Considerations . 20Poverty Not Measured for Certain Populations . 20Health Status Not Directly Included in Poverty Measures . 21FiguresFigure 1. Number of Individuals Aged 65 and Older Below Poverty and Poverty Rate,1966-2019. 4Figure 2. Poverty Rates, by Age Group: 1966-2019 . 5Figure 3. Poverty Status of Individuals Aged 65 and Older, by Age Group, 1975-2019. 7Figure 4. Poverty Status of Individuals Aged 65 and Older in 2019, by Age Groups andSex . 8Figure 5. Poverty Rates of Individuals Aged 80 and Older in 2019, by Living Status . 9Figure 6. Poverty Status of Individuals Aged 65 and Older, by Marital Status, 1975-2019 . 10Figure 7. Poverty Status of Individuals Aged 65 and Older in 2019, by Marital Status andSex . 11Figure 8. Poverty Status of Individuals Aged 65 and Older in 2019, by Marital Status,Sex, and the Presence of Children . 12Figure 9. Poverty Status of Individuals Aged 65 and Older, by Race and Hispanic Origin,1975-2019. 13Figure 10. Poverty Status of Individuals Aged 65 and Older in 2019, by Race, HispanicOrigin, and Sex. 14Figure 11. Effects of Resources and Costs on the SPM Poverty Rate for the PopulationAged 65 and Older: 2019. 20TablesTable 1. Share of Total Money Income from Specified Sources for Poor Individuals Aged65 and Older, 2019 . 15Congressional Research Service
Poverty Among the Population Aged 65 and OlderContactsAuthor Information . 21Congressional Research Service
Poverty Among the Population Aged 65 and OlderIntroductionThe aged population (persons age 65 and older) has been and continues to be of interest toCongress for various federal policies. Several government programs have contributed to increasedincomes among the aged, including Old Age, Survivor and Disability Insurance (OASDI,commonly known as Social Security) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). 1 However,certain groups of the aged population—such as widows, divorced women, and never-married menand women—are still vulnerable to poverty. In light of those facts, Congress may be interested inthe incidence of poverty among the aged and the effect of existing programs that reduce poverty.2To address that interest, this report presents time trends and the most recently available povertyrates (percentages of individuals that are in poverty, or economic hardship characterized by lowincome) among the aged population in the United States both as a whole and by demographicgroup. 3 This report also discusses how federal programs that may provide assistance to the agedpoor affect estimates of poverty among the aged.Most of this report will examine poverty among the aged population using the official measure ofpoverty, because it has been in use for over 50 years and provides a consistent time series forexamining demographic trends. Analysis of aged poverty in this report is for the time period from1966 to 2019, before the onset of COVID-19. The poverty rate among the aged has declined byover two-thirds over the past five decades from 28.5% in 1966 to 8.9% in 2019. 4 In 2019, 4.9million aged individuals had incomes below the poverty thresholds (dollar amounts used todetermine poverty status). 5The official measure has some limitations, among them a limited ability to gauge the impact offederal programs on the well-being of the poor. Researchers inside and outside the governmentdeveloped a newer measure, the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), to address the1See CRS Report R42035, Social Security Primer; and CRS In Focus IF10482, Supplemental Security Income (SSI).2Congress has seen proposals to improve income among vulnerable groups of the older population, such as changingthe factors used in the Social Security benefit formula, revising the minimum benefit for long-term low-wage earners,increasing Social Security benefits for certain survivors, increasing the Social Security cost -of-living adjustments, andmodifying the SSI program to increase payment amounts by changing income exclusions and resource thresholds.3 For details on the definition and measurement of poverty, see CRS Report R44780, An Introduction to PovertyMeasurement.In this report, numbers and percentages of those in poverty are based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s estimates.National-level data in this report are obtained from the Current Population Survey Annual Social and EconomicSupplement (CPS ASEC) conducted by t he U.S. Census Bureau. Age is measured at the time of the interview(February, March, or April), but annual income is based on the previous year. While the official poverty measure isoften regarded as a statistical yardstick rather than a complete descrip tion of what people and families need to live, itoffers a measure of economic hardship faced by the low-income population by comparing family income against adollar amount called a poverty threshold, a level below which a family is considered to be poor. Research indicatesthat, due to COVID-19, the nonresponse to the 2020 CPS ASEC increased substantially compared to surveys in prioryears. T his nonresponse likely biased income estimates up and poverty statistics down. For more information, seeJonathan Rothbaum and Adam Bee, Coronavirus Infects Surveys, Too: Nonresponse Bias During the Pandemic in theCPS ASEC, U.S. Census Bureau, September 15, 2020, workingpapers/2020/demo/sehsd-wp2020-10.pdf.45T he poverty thresholds vary by family size and composition. For example, in 2019, a single individual under age 65was considered to be living in poverty if that person’s income was less than 13,300; for an individual 65 and over, 12,261; for a person 65 or older living with one child under 18, 17,555; for an adult (of any age) and two children, 20,598; and for two adults and two children, 25,926. In all, 48 thresholds are used. T hese thresholds do not varygeographically, but they are updated annually for inflation using the Consumer Price Index. For further explanation, seeCRS Report R44780, An Introduction to Poverty Measurement.Congressional Research Service1
Poverty Among the Population Aged 65 and Olderweaknesses of the official measure. Statistics on the aged population using the SPM are presentedat the end of this report in order to better illustrate the impact of federal programs on the agedpoor. This report compares official poverty data for the aged population with data from the SPMand provides statistics measuring the impact of federal cash benefits (mainly Social Security andSSI), taxes, and in-kind benefits (such as housing, energy, and food assistance) on aged poverty.While it received scrutiny from the academic and federal research community, the SPM isconsidered a research measure—it addresses many, but not all, of the limitations of the officialmeasure, and its methodology is refined periodically to make use of newer data sources andimproved measurement techniques. 6How the Official Poverty Measure Is ComputedPoverty status is determined by comparing a measure of a family’s resources against a measure ofits needs. 7 Families whose resources are less than a dollar amount representing an austere level of“needs” are considered to be in poverty. 8Defining resources and needs is not straightforward. The official poverty measure is based on 48dollar amounts called poverty thresholds that vary by family size and composition but not bygeographic area. 9 These official thresholds were developed in the 1960s using data available atthe time and are updated annually for inflation. Rather than by determining amounts for all majorgoods and services a family could possibly need, the thresholds were based on the averageamount of a family’s budget that was spent on food. (As of 1955, this was one-third of a family’sbudget.) Food costs were represented in the thresholds by a U.S. Department of Agriculture foodbudget designed for families in economic stress. The entire family budget was the cost of thisplan multiplied by three, with some adjustments for couples and individuals. As such, thethresholds reflect a level of deprivation based on a restrictive food budget and their associatedcosts but are not based on a full enumeration of all items families and individuals need. Familyresources are measured in dollars and are based on cash income before taxes. That is, incomefrom all sources—such as Social Security, earnings, pensions, and other cash benefits—areincluded in their pre-tax amounts but not the value of noncash benefits such as housing subsidiesor the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). All poverty data presented in this6A more thorough description of the SPM methodology may be found in CRS Report R45031, The SupplementalPoverty Measure: Its Core Concepts, Development, and Use.7T he CPS ASEC is conducted among the civilian, noninstitutional population of the United States. It does not includeresidents of prisons or nursing homes or military personnel living on base. According to the National Center for HealthStatistics, an estimated 1.4 million persons resided in nursing homes in 2016. Of this number, almost 1.2 million (83%)were aged 65 or older. See Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Vital andHealth Statistics, February 2019, T able 9, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr 03/sr0343-508.pdf. For a thoroughdiscussion of poverty measurement, see CRS Report R44780, An Introduction to Poverty Measurement.8All members of a family have the same poverty status. For persons not living with family members, poverty status isdetermined using their own needs and resources as if they were a “one-person family.”T he measure described and used in this report is a statistical measure of poverty —the official poverty thresholdspublished by the Census Bureau—and is different from another set of dollar figures called poverty guidelines publishedby the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. T he poverty guidelines are a simplification of the povertythresholds, are used for administrative (not statistical) purposes, and are sometimes referred to (somewhatambiguously) as the federal poverty level. Unlike the official poverty thresholds used by the Census Bureau, thepoverty guidelines include separate dollar amounts for Alaska and Hawaii. For details see CRS Report R44780, AnIntroduction to Poverty Measurement.9Congressional Research Service2
Poverty Among the Population Aged 65 and Olderreport are estimates based on a survey, and like all survey estimates, they are subject to samplingand nonsampling error. 10The poverty research community has discussed the official poverty measure’s limitations fordecades. Its use of pretax income generally does not allow for estimating tax credits’ effects onthe low-income population. It also does not consider in-kind (noncash) benefits (e.g., housingsubsidies) as income and, as a result, cannot (on its own) illustrate such benefits’ effects on thepoor population. Although the measure of need represented by the thresholds is updated everyyear for overall inflation, it may not accurately reflect the current costs of needs. This is becauseprices for goods and services related to basic needs may not rise at the same rate as prices for theother items measured in the Consumer Price Index—the tool used to adjust the official povertythresholds for inflation. Since the official measure’s initial development, new data sources haveoffered more detail on the goods and services families consume, but developing an approach thatdefines basic needs and determines available resources for families to spend on those needs hastaken decades of research and discussion. The SPM resulted from that research and is describedbriefly in the section “The Supplemental Poverty Measure.”11Poverty Status of the AgedNotwithstanding the official poverty measure’s limitations, for more than 50 years, it hasprovided a consistent measure of poverty in the United States, with few methodological changesover that time, and it is based on empirical measures of need (food budgets and foodconsumption, albeit in 1961 and 1955, respectively). 12 For these reasons, trends for the agedpopulation based on the official measure are discussed throughout the rest of the report.The proportion of the aged population who lived in poverty has declined significantly in the past50 years. In 1966, 28.5% of individuals aged 65 and older had family incomes below the povertyEstimates computed using different survey samples will likely differ from one another and from the “true”population value, even when the samples are drawn from the same population. T he margin of error is a measure of anestimate’s variability due to sampling. T he larger the margin of error is in relation to the size of the estimate, the lessreliable is the estimate. T he Census Bureau’s estimates from the Current Population Survey (CPS), like estimates fromother surveys, likely contain nonsampling error—error due to causes other than the fact that a sample was used in placeof the entire population (for instance, respondents misremembering or misreporting income amounts, respondentsfaili
Jul 01, 2019 · individuals aged 75-79, 8.6% among those aged 70-74, and 7.9% among those aged 65-69. Women aged 80 and older had the highest poverty rate among elderly women and men in all age groups, at 13.5% in 2017 for w
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Indirect employment in aged care 3 Contents 1. About this study 4 Defining key concepts and the study's scope 8 2. Current employment arrangements in aged care 12 The aged care workforce: an overview 12 Indirect employment in aged care 15 Regulation of indirect employment in aged care 19 3. Impacts of indirect employment in aged care 22
compound identities—African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, Irish Americans, Italian Americans, Native Americans—that jointly indicate the communities from which they come and the nation they now sh
3. Other—youths aged 16 to 18 who completed high school or a GED, youths aged 16 to 18 in 11th grade or lower, and youths aged 16 who were not considered 12th grade aged (based on criteria discussed in group 2) This issue of The CBHSQ Report focuses on the first two of these groups, which are collectively referred to as 12th grade aged youths;
kills more African Americans than any other type of cancer.22 In 2019, it is estimated that 25,390 African Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer and 16,550 23African Americans will die from it. The relative five year survival rate for lung cancer is lower among African Americans than among whites (16% compared to 19%).24
The percentage of adults aged 65 and over who ever had a pneumococcal vaccine was highest among those who were aged 75 and over, non-Hispanic white, and not poor. Nearly two-thirds of adults aged 65 and over ever had a pneumococcal vaccine (63.6%) (Figure 2). The percentage of women aged 65 and over who ever had a pneumococcal vaccine (64.2%)
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A02 x 2 One mark for the purpose, which is not simply a tautology, and one for development. e.g. The Profit and Loss Account shows the profit or loss of FSC over a given period of time e.g. 3 months, 1 year, etc. (1) It describes how the profit or loss arose – e.g. categorising costs between cost of sales and operating costs/it shows both revenues and costs (1) (1 1) (2) 3(b) AO2 x 2 The .
