Hunger among Older Americans Spikes Nearly 80 Percent Since 2001

AARP Foundation report finds 1 in 11 Americans 50-plus at risk of hunger

Nearly 9 million Americans 50 and older face the risk of hunger, according to new research commissioned by AARP Foundation. The report, produced by James P. Ziliak of the University of Kentucky and Craig Gundersen of the University found more than nine percent of older Americans were at risk of hunger in 2009—a 79 percent increase since 2001.

The report, “Food Insecurity among Older Adults,” is the first of its kind to examine this issue among people age 50 to 59—the youngest of the baby boomers. Because they are typically too young for Social Security and Medicare and too old to qualify for programs designed for families with children, this age group can be hit particularly hard in bad economic times. In 2009, 4.9 million 50- to 59-year-olds were at risk of hunger, representing a staggering 38 percent increase over 2007.

The report finds that roughly 11 percent of New yorkers age 50-59 face food insecurity.

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Effort launched to fight senior hunger

October 26, 2010
Albany Times Union article by Paul Nelson

SCHENECTADY -- Only 1 in 10 senior citizens in the region eligible for food stamps take advantage of the assistance, according to advocates who have joined a statewide "Create the Good" effort to combat hunger among the elderly.

Linda Bopp, executive director with the Nutrition Consortium of New York, said Monday outside Schenectady Inner City Ministry's food pantry that older people often do not obtain the financial help because they are unaware they are eligible or they don't think the effort is worth the money they might receive.

Still, others think they are taking something from another person who is more needy.
The average benefit for a person 60 years and older is $100 a month, Bopp said.

Erin Mitchell, associate state director for AARP New York, said, "too many older New Yorkers are forced to choose between buying groceries and their medicine." She stressed that "the food stamp benefit is discreet and easy to use" because of the debit card system that funds are deducted from when purchases are made. By year's end, elderly residents with access to a computer will be able to register for assistance online, said authorities.

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Alternate Poverty Formula Doubles Senior Poverty Rate

(Associated Press, September 4, 2009) The poverty rate among older Americans could be nearly twice as high as the traditional 10 percent level, according to a revision of a half-century-old formula for calculating medical costs and geographic variations in the cost of living.

The National Academy of Science's formula would put the poverty rate for Americans 65 and over at 18.6 percent, or 6.8 million people, compared with 9.7 percent, or 3.6 million people, under the current measure. The original government formula, created in 1955, doesn't take account of rising costs of medical care and other factors.

Senior citizens living in poverty is "a hidden problem," said Robin Talbert, president of the AARP Foundation. "There are still many millions of older people on the edge, who don't have what they need to get by."

Last year, New York City recognized that current poverty measure was a poor gauge of either the degree of economic deprivation in the City or the impact of programs intended to alleviate it. The City adopted the NAS numbers, as a realistic threshold of poverty, essentially doubling the number of seniors in poverty (from 18.1 percent to 32 percent). Albany officials plan to reveal revised state numbers next month.

The current calculation sets the poverty level at three times the annual cost of groceries. For a family of four that is $21,203. That calculation does not factor in rising medical, transportation, child care and housing expenses or geographical variations in living costs. Nor does the current formula consider noncash aid when calculating income, despite the recent expansion of food stamps and tax credits in the federal economic stimulus and other government programs. The result: The poverty rate for the overall population has varied little from its current 12.5 percent.
Nationally, official poverty rates for older Americans have improved significantly over the past 30 years due to expansions of Social Security and Supplemental Security Income. But many older people with modest cash incomes would fall below the poverty line under the NAS formula due to out-of-pocket expenses from rising Medicare premiums, deductibles and a coverage gap in the prescription drug benefit that is known as the "doughnut hole."