Poverty Rate Projected to Decline Among Elderly

SSA Projects Less GenX Retirees Will Live in Poverty
 

The current rate of poverty among the elderly is 9.8 percent, compared to 15.7 percent for those under age 65. But what about the future? 

The Social Security Administration (SSA) projects that poverty rates will continue to decline for the elderly, reports MotherJones.com.

About 7 percent of depression babies, who began to retire in 1990, currently live in poverty, compared to a forecast of 5.7 percent for the Generation X population, which will begin retiring in 2030. However, these averages hide some stark differences. 

Not all groups are expected to do so well. Among high school dropouts, poverty rates are projected to increase from 13.5 percent to 24.9 percent before declining to 18 percent for GenXers. Also, given the projected increase in minorities and immigrants, as well as the historic increase in women’s labor force participation, retirees with low labor force attachment are increasingly low-educated, low-skilled, and disabled. Those retirees are projected to have very high poverty rates. 

By 2030, the SSA forecasts that poverty will be all but eradicated for every income group except one: the very poorest. 

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