Older Adults Have The Highest Poverty Rate

In a new report released today from the AARP Public Policy Institute finds that under the experimental poverty measure, older Americans have the highest rates of poverty among three key age groups.
Get this: the report even understates the number of older Americans in poverty, because the current official poverty measure, does not take into account the higher health care expenditures of people over 65.
The report shows us that the current official poverty measure is leaving nearly half the older people who are living in poverty out of the equation. Leaders in our country must explore this disparity to ensure that we are accounting for people who fall outside the official poverty measure but are very likely struggling to make ends meet.
Older Americans living at, below or near the poverty line are some of America's most vulnerable and are faced daily with lots of tough choices in their everyday budgets and lives. This is a sad reality and needs to be fixed!
AARP Foundation resources for older Americans can be found at www.aarp.org/foundation.
For the full report, click here .