The Myth Of The Wealthy Elderly

The austerity gang seeking cuts to Social Security and Medicare have been vigorously promoting the myth that the elderly are an especially affluent and privileged group. Their argument is that because of their relative affluence, cuts to the programs upon which they depend is a simple matter of fairness. There were two reports released last week that call this view into question.

The first was a report from the Census Bureau that used a new experimental poverty index. This index differed from the official measure in several ways; most importantly, it includes the value of government noncash benefits, like food stamps. It also adjusts for differences in costs by area and takes account of differences in health spending by age.

While these new measures showed a slightly higher overall poverty rate, the most striking difference between the new measure and the official measure was the rise in the poverty rate among the elderly. Using the official measure, the poverty rate for the elderly is somewhat lower than for the adult population as a whole, 9 percent for the elderly compared to 14 percent for the nonelderly adult population. However with the new measure, the poverty rate for the elderly jumps to 14 percent, compared to 13 percent for nonelderly adults.

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