Seniors in Suffolk County and across New York suffer financially in their twilight years. That is the main outcome of a recent study that highlights the extreme financial hardships facing the elderly in the Empire State.
The Center for an Urban Future’s latest report even describes it as “dire”.
The number of older New Yorkers living in poverty has surged nearly 50 percent in the last ten years.
A report by the Center for Urban Future, authored by Rachel Neches and Jonathan Bowles, raises the alarm about the poor financial health of older New Yorkers.
“Hundreds of thousands of older New Yorkers appear to have no stable source of retirement income. A staggering 49 percent of the state’s older adults reported no retirement income at all in 2022,” says the report.
The report cites that the dramatic spike in older adult poverty across New York occurred even as the number of people under 65 living in poverty declined by nearly 25 percent.
Although Suffolk County fares better than areas suffering from high poverty levels such as Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester, Yonkers, Orange County, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens, it has experienced steep increases in poverty among its older residents.
Poverty in older Suffolk County residents has skyrocketed by 48.1% in the last decade, with just under 16,000 people living in poverty. The older population is on the rise, increasing nearly 30% in the last decade. Older adults now represent 18.1 percent of the county’s population, up from 14.4 percent in 2012.
Although the overall poverty rate in the County is lower than other poverty-stricken areas of New York at 5.7%, the steep increase in poverty sounds the alarm.
Poverty rates for older Asians increased in the County by +178.2% and rose +203.6% in neighboring Nassau County. Almost 45% of Suffolk adults over 70 did not report any retirement income and 8.6 % did not report any social security income.
The number of Suffolk Black older adults in poverty more than doubled in five areas of New York, Suffolk County being on that list with a shocking increase of +115 percent. Immigrant older adults in Suffolk face a poverty rate of 6.2 percent, while U.S.-born older adults face a poverty rate of 5.6 percent.
Working past the traditional retirement age has become a necessity for many and Suffolk County is in the top five as far as residents (21.7%) over 65 still in the workforce.
Labor force participation for older adults rose 48 percent, from 42,108 in 2012 to 62,327 in 2022. Over 20 percent of older adults are in the labor force today, up from 19.5 percent in 2012. Hispanic older adults experienced the most significant increase in labor force participation, growing by 83.4 percent from 3,104 in 2012 to 5,693 in 2022.