Good for the elderly
Social Security’s Effect on Poverty Using the Supplemental Poverty Measure
Effect of Social Security on Poverty (Supplemental Poverty Measure), 2018 | ||
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Percent in Poverty | ||
Adults Ages 18-64 | 16.2% | 12.2% |
Elderly Age 65 and Over | 47.5% | 13.6% |
Total, All Ages | 21.2% | 12.8% |
Average income support by age group in 2000 and 2014 ($ per week) These two reasons combined account for over 75% of the decrease in poverty incidence . Increased private pensions account for a further large part of the decrease (nearly 41%), while changes in investment income would have increased the poverty rate .
Social Security and Medicare: have succeeded in reducing the incidence of poverty among the elderly . Over the last forty years, poverty in the United States, as measured by the number of poor , has increased the most : among households headed by women.
In 2019, the poverty rate in the United States was highest among people between the ages of 18 and 24 years old , with a rate of 17.1 percent for male Americans and a rate of 21.35 percent for female Americans. The lowest poverty rate for both genders was found in individuals between the ages of 65 and 74 years old.
Table 1. Median annual income of the population, age 65 and older | ||
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Demographic unit | Income | Year |
Individuals | $25,601 | 2018 |
Households | $43,696 | 2018 |
Aged units | $30,193 | 2014 |
Social Security lifts nearly 15 million elderly Americans out of poverty. Without Social Security benefits , more than 40 percent of Americans aged 65 and older would have incomes below the poverty line, all else being equal. The program lifts 14.7 million elderly Americans out of poverty.
Pensioners who rent their homes are much more likely to be in poverty than owner-occupiers. This is due to pensioners who retire as owner-occupiers having higher levels of private income, such as occupational pensions and investment income, as well as having lower housing costs.
Compare with younger people, older people tend to have less access to earned income, higher rates of home ownership, higher assets and greater access to means-tested income support. However, older people are not a homogenous group.
Government financial benefits programs for seniors iCanConnect. USDA Housing Repair Grants. Housing and Urban Development Programs. Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Medicaid . Medicare. Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program. Commodity Supplemental Food Program.
Data on the poverty threshold is created by the US Census Bureau, which uses pre-tax income as a yardstick to measure poverty. The statistical report on the poverty threshold is then used by the HHS to determine the federal poverty level (FPL).
Social Security reduced the number of recipients in deep poverty , which is defined as half of the federal poverty line, by 47 percent. In addition, it reduced poverty for those whose incomes were near the poverty line, though its effect on those recipients was less dramatic.
As of 2010 about half of those living in poverty are non-Hispanic white (19.6 million). Non-Hispanic white children comprised 57% of all poor rural children. In FY 2009, African American families comprised 33.3% of TANF families, non-Hispanic white families comprised 31.2%, and 28.8% were Hispanic.
Children, lone parents, disabled people and people in households in which no one works are more likely to experience poverty , to remain in poverty for longer and to experience deeper poverty , than others.
34.0 million people