Trends in Economic Insecurity among Older Adults in California, 2015 - 2023: Using the California Elder Index

TL;DR

This paper examines how economic insecurity among older adults in California has changed from 2015 to 2023 using a more accurate income measure than the Federal Poverty Level.

Contribution

The study introduces a new framework using the California Elder Index to identify income gaps among older adults that traditional poverty measures miss.

Findings

The percentage of older adults with income below the California Elder Index and Federal Poverty Level increased steadily from 2015 to 2023.

Economic insecurity shifted toward more older adults falling into the CEI Middle-Income Gap or very-low-income categories.

Single older adults, especially renters and racial minorities, consistently face higher economic insecurity than older couples.

Abstract

The California Elder Index (CEI) provides a better measurement of the income older adults need to cover basic living expenses compared to the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) guidelines. The CEI includes costs for housing, healthcare, food, transportation, and miscellaneous, while the FPL includes food costs only. Using the CEI, we document economic insecurity among older Californians from 2015 to 2023. Since the FPL is widely used to determine eligibility for public programs, we provide CEI and FPL comparisons to show that many older adults with income above the FPL, but below the CEI, lack the income needed for day-to-day expenses. This group falls within the “CEI Income Gap” which we disaggregated into two categories: “CEI Low-Income Gap”(below the CEI and 100-199% FPL) and “CEI Middle-Income Gap” (below the CEI and ≥ 200% FPL). Analyses also include those classified as “very-low-income” (below the CEI and ≤99% FPL). Our findings document trends and persistent disparities in economic insecurity: 1) The percentage of older adults with income below the CEI and FPL steadily increased from 2015 to 2023. 2) Economic insecurity among older adults has shifted, with fewer falling into the CEI Low-Income Gap, and more falling into very-low-income or the CEI Middle-Income Gap. 3) Single older adults living alone consistently face higher rates of economic insecurity than older couples, especially single renters, women, Latinos, and Blacks/African Americans. Our findings underscore the value of using the CEI and an income gap framework to better assess needs and allocate resources for California’s aging population.