PAHRUMP, Nevada — The world has experienced medical breakthroughs that are now allowing people to live much longer. While that is amazing, it has caused some negatives for those 65 and older, specifically a higher rate of poverty and food insecurity.
A large portion of the elderly are considered to be part of the category of the “hidden hungry.” This hidden hunger and food insecurity dramatically affects the elderly since they have a much harder time moving out of poverty as compared to those younger.
According to the Huffington Post, Craig Gundersen, from the University of Illinois, co-authored a study about food insecurity and found that “people who are 25 and suffering food insecurity, at some point they can raise themselves out of food insecurity… If someone is 70 years old and food insecure, it’s not like they can go out and work a second job.”
This is the trend that has been seen in the United States for the last few years with a higher rise in elder poverty after the recession. Many retirees who had saved enough during their working years lost a large portion of their retirement funds while those who were struggling have now fallen even further below the poverty level.
Also, many of the elderly cite health care as their highest expense. Those living longer deal with more and more health complications that need greater medical care and cost, “such as cancer, lung disease, heart problems or stroke,” according to the Huffington Post. Medical costs affect those in poverty at a proportionally higher rate and can cost an elderly person up to one-fifth of their monthly income.
The older retirees get, the more at risk they are to fall into, or deeper into, poverty because their savings will be depleted and they will be relying on Social Security. This thought is very sobering especially in light of the trend that predicts that elder poverty is not expected to decline any time soon, but rather get worse.
Karen Smith, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, and two co-authors have developed a model that can project elder poverty in the coming years. The model shows a rise from 5.9 percent of the elderly living in poverty in 2010 to 8.5 percent in 2040.
Poverty and elderly is not synonymous, but they are intertwined factors in many parts of the world.
Jared Diamond did an extensive study on traditional, tribal societies versus modern societies, and elder care was a cross-section of the work. He presented his findings at a March 2013 TedTalk where he said that the elderly were treated severely in some traditional societies and some modern societies. Of course, the opposite is also true depending on cultural practices.
Traditional versus modern was not the deciding factor as much as it was the cultural response to an elderly person’s contribution to the society. Basically, their care was a direct result of whether their wisdom was respected or not considered of any worth in the need for survival.
In some traditional societies, the elderly are revered for their wisdom and oral traditions. But it was seen in nomadic tribes or during times of hunger that the elderly were called upon to either commit suicide or were left by the younger generation during a move.
In some ways, modern societies have done much of the same thing to the elder population now. Even if a retiree were to try to find a job to supplement their retirement check, Diamond says that elder discrimination in the workplace is very real and makes the elderly’s wealth of wisdom considered obsolete by many younger people.
Of course, this is not true of all societies, but it is present in many places and is a factor to be considered in elder poverty. Dwindling resources, lack of available jobs and rising medical care take a toll on the elder population. Their “hidden hunger” is present and getting worse. Thankfully, dialogue has opened up about the issue. Now that a problem has been recognized, action can be taken.
– Megan Ivy
Sources: Huffington Post, Reuters, TedTalk
Photo: Flickr