Increased Income Gap for Low-Income Older Adults in California, Elder Index 2009

The Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index (Elder Index) for California first documented in 2008 that the Federal Poverty Guideline (FPL) covered less than half of the basic costs experienced by adults age 65 and older. While the FPL is uniform nationally, the Elder Index is based on county-level costs that include health care costs, food, housing, transportation and miscellaneous. As the cost of living increases and incomes for older adults remain fixed or decrease, the Elder Index quantifies the income gap that many older adults continue to face. State budget cuts in 2009 to California's Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) for an older individual was reduced to a maximum payment of $10,140, placing SSI recipients' income below the FPL of $10,120, and further widening the income gap for low-income older adults to make ends meet. This presentation updates the county-level costs for a decent basic standard of living for older adults with 2009 data and looks at the trends and county variances for the past two years. This work highlights the tradeoffs that low-income older adults face in having to choose between adequate nutrition, health care, and housing when their incomes are below the Elder Index. State budget cuts in a wide range of public policies such as Medicaid, senior services, and cash assistance are shown to increase the number of income insecure older adults in the state.