The new report illustrates the challenges older adults encounter when they can’t afford the local cost of living.
What’s the cost of a no-frills budget for older adults living in each of the nation’s 384 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA)? And what percentage of elders in the nation’s 100 largest metro areas don’t have the income needed to pay those costs? Professor Jan Mutchler of the University of Massachusetts, Boston has the answers.
A new report by Mutchler and graduate assistant Yang Li shows a wide variation in the level of elder economic insecurity levels among older individuals and couples living in the country’s 100 largest MSAs. Among these metro areas:
- The highest rate of economic insecurity among elders was found in the metro area that includes McAllen, Edinburg, and Mission, TX. More than two-thirds of older adults (67.5%) in this area did not have enough income to meet local expenses on their own.
- The lowest rate of elder economic insecurity was found in Madison, WI, where 37% of elders could not meet local expenses on their own.
Researchers used expense data found in the Elder Index™, a free online resource developed by UMass Boston’s Gerontology Institute. The index calculates the cost of a bare-bones elder budget for individuals and couples in every state, county, and metropolitan area in the United States.
Read more about the report findings on the Gerontology Institute Blog.