Good for the elderly
According to the official poverty measure, 4.7 million individuals aged 65 and over lived in poverty in 2017, accounting for 9.2 percent of the population; however, the Supplemental Poverty Measure estimates that figure to be 7.2 million (14.1 percent), or 14.1 percent of the population (Figure 1).
Poor living conditions prevailed among those above the age of 80, as contrasted to poverty rates of 9.2 percent among those between the ages of 75 and 79, 7.4 percent among those between the ages of 70 and 74, and 8.4 percent among those between the ages of 65 and 69.Men and women over the age of 80 had the greatest poverty rates of any age group among older women and men, with women over the age of 80 having the highest rate of 13.6 percent.
According to new Statistics Canada data, 12 percent of seniors live in poverty, which equates to over 600,000 individuals in the country. Seniors who live alone have special financial difficulties, with more than one in every four solitary seniors, the vast majority of whom are women, living in poverty.
The fact that older women are more likely than males to live in poverty is the result of wage discrimination and the necessity of taking time off work to care for family members. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) published a report titled ″Poverty Among Americans Aged 65 and Older″ in 2008.
Using the Supplemental Poverty Measure, we may examine the impact of Social Security on poverty.
Effect of Social Security on Poverty (Supplemental Poverty Measure), 2018 | ||
---|---|---|
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% |
With a poverty rate of 15.7 percent for male Americans and 16.4 percent for female Americans in 2020, persons under the age of 18 in the United States had the highest chance of becoming poor. Individuals between the ages of 65 and 74 years old had the lowest rates of poverty for both sexes, according to the data.
Almost one-fifth of elderly single individuals live in poverty, according to statistics. Nearly 2 million seniors receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement, which provides them with an annual income of approximately $17,000. The most fundamental standard of living in Canada, on the other hand, is assessed to be $18,000 per year for a single individual.
The number of elderly people living in poverty is increasing. Pensions are disappearing, and retirement benefits are inadequate, causing more elderly Americans to be left behind. Women, particularly women of color, are more likely than males to fall into poverty as they get older.
Age distribution of the population aged 65 and above in 1990, 2000, and 2010.
Age | 1990 | Percent of U.S. total |
---|---|---|
Number | 2010 | |
75 to 79 years | 6,121,369 | 2.4 |
80 to 84 years | 3,933,739 | 1.9 |
85 to 94 years | 2,829,728 | 1.6 |
Approximately half of individuals living in poverty are non-Hispanic whites, according to statistics from 2010.(19.6 million).Non-Hispanic white children accounted for 57 percent of all impoverished rural children, according to the study.
In 2020, 8.2 percent of non-Hispanic Whites were living in poverty, compared to a poverty rate of 17.0 percent for Hispanics in the same year. Blacks had the greatest poverty rate (19.5 percent) of the major racial groups analyzed in this study, although they did not see a substantial shift from the previous year.
In 2018, the overall median income of Canadian senior adults aged 65 and above was 28,910 Canadian dollars, according to the Statistics Canada. From 2000 to 2018, the total median income of seniors in Canada was broken down by age group.
Characteristic | 55 to 64 years | 65 years and over |
---|---|---|
2017 | 41,310 | 28,010 |
2016 | 40,280 | 27,160 |
2015 | 39,750 | 26,990 |
2014 | 38,630 | 25,910 |
The poverty rate among Canadian seniors is one of the lowest in the world, and it is among the lowest in the developed world.Five percent of the population lives below the low-income thresholds set by Statistics Canada1, and 7.2 percent live below the poverty line set by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.2 Eighty percent of Canadian seniors who live in poverty are single, and women account for seventy-five percent of those who are single in Canada.
With a rate of senior poverty of 1.7 percent, the Netherlands is the best-performing country on this measure, according to the most current figures available. The Netherlands, like Canada, provides a universal retirement pension.
According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), out of the more than 46 million Americans who receive Social Security retirement benefits, around. One in every five married couples and one in every four unmarried people rely on Social Security for 90 percent or more of their annual income.
According to a new study, 50 percent of older persons who live alone and 23 percent of older couples do not have enough money to meet their basic financial requirements. Elderly households face greater financial difficulties in some parts of the country than in others, depending on the cost of living in their specific region.
Social Security payouts are the single most important source of retirement income in the United States. Employer-provided pension trends, social shifts, and changes in Social Security program rules have all impacted the distribution of income by source among the elderly population over time, as seen in Figure 1.