National Elder Economic Security Initiative™

Seniors Benefit from the Affordable Care Act

2012-01-26T12:49:00.002-05:00

As the one-year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) approaches on March 23rd, it brings with it many new advantages for older Americans. The ACA directly impacts seniors by closing Medicare’s prescription drug benefits gap, promising comprehensive preventive care coverage and removing loopholes used by insurance companies to deny coverage. In these aspects, the ACA expands coverage for seniors while reducing the opportunity for exploitation.

Elimination of the “donut hole” is a key example of one of the improvements brought by the ACA. The “donut hole” is a drug coverage gap that forces participants to pay costs in full after their annual expenses reach $2,830. Until intervention from the ACA, Medicare beneficiaries paid the total cost of drugs until their annual expenses surpassed $6,440. The new law diminishes this gap in coverage by offering Medicare participants a 50% discount on brand name drugs. WOW’s Elder Index has found that out-of-pocket health care costs account for the second highest expense for elders, after housing.

Furthermore, the Affordable Care Act expands preventive care coverage to seniors by offering free annual wellness visits and personalized prevention for individuals enrolled in Medicare. By 2018, all private health insurance plans must cover preventive services without co-payments.

Finally, the Act will prevent insurance companies from rescinding coverage based on unintentional mistakes on applications. Currently, insurance companies have the right to revoke policies when a beneficiary becomes sick if there are unintentional mistakes on paper work. The new regulations eliminate this policy by prohibiting insurers from withdrawing coverage unless fraud or intentional misrepresentation of facts has occurred.

The anniversary of the Affordable Care Act and the introduction of its new reforms will help secure more fair healthcare policies to seniors. In the long run the ACA saves taxpayer dollars by eradicating fraud and abuse within the Medicare system and simultaneously guaranteeing elders more reliable coverage.

Sahdia Khan
Elder Economic Security Initiative Intern

Economic Security is Highlighted in Older Americans Act Reauthorization

2012-01-12T13:48:00.001-05:00

This month, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will introduce legislation to reauthorize the Older Americans Act (OAA), one of the most crucial sources of federal support for older adults. The OAA provides essential programs ranging from the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), to services to prevent abuse, neglect and exploitation of older adults, to meal and nutrition services for older persons.

The reauthorization also includes several key amendments. For example, the bill establishes economic security as a goal of the OAA and includes a clarification of the formal definition of “economic security” to encompass the income necessary to pay for housing, health care, transportation, food, long-term care and goods and services to meet other basic needs. According to WOW’s Elder Economic Security Standard Index, average annual Social Security income only provides an older woman renter with 61% of the income necessary to establish economic security. The OAA’s emphasis on expanding and ensuring economic security is a key component in helping to compensate for this deficiency.

Furthermore, the OAA will redefine the term “economic need” to 200% of the federal poverty level, an especially important distinction in light of the fact that one in five older Americans today survives on an average income of only $7,500 per year.

Overall, the amendments and reauthorization of the OAA is a major stride for older Americans and provides an opportunity to improve existing programs in the framework of economic security. By addressing the growing need of support programs for older Americans through job training, legal assistance, nutritional advising and long-term care coordination services, the bill functions as one of the most comprehensive government-sponsored forms of assistance to seniors.

Sahdia Khan
Elder Economic Security Initiative Intern

A Look Back at 50 Years of the Special Committee on Aging

2011-12-16T11:37:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday, the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging held a forum entitled "Aging in America: Future Challenges, Promise and Potential.” The event featured many speakers, including aging experts and key Special Committee staff, and commemorated the Committee's 50th anniversary.

The Special Committee is responsible for bringing attention to key issues relating to older adults. Although it has no legislative authority, the Special Committee on Aging studies issues, conducts oversight and investigates fraud and waste.

Kathy Greenlee, the Assistant Secretary for the Administration on Aging, spoke about the milestone legislation and judicial action that affects the aging community since the inception of the Special Committee in 1961, including:

Creation of Medicare and Medicaid (1965)
Federal Nursing Home Reform Act (1987)
Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)
The Olmstead Decision (1999)
Affordable Care Act (2010)

Assistant Secretary Greenlee also emphasized the importance of preventative care across the lifespan, and that it is possible to deliver better care for those who need it at lower costs by using a home and community-based approach.

There has been a significant difference in the lives of older adults over the last half century, and the next 50 years is sure to be transformative as well.

Kelly Stellrecht
Outreach and Field Coordinator
Elder Economic Security Initiative

Pass the American Jobs Act and Put Women Back to Work

2011-09-15T15:30:00.001-04:00

How do we resolve the current economic impasse? We put Americans to work, men and women. That will require a Herculean effort on the part of our leaders to catalyze job creation. As millions of Americans continue to look for meaningful employment, the President has put forward The American Jobs Act, a blueprint for getting Americans back to work, and we look to Congress to act quickly on this legislation.

Women are facing increasing unemployment rates and older women are facing higher rates of long-term unemployment. Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) finds the “Pathways Back to Work Initiative” particularly encouraging because it includes employment and job training opportunities that create needed entry points for women of all ages, especially for those who are low-income workers.

Job training programs have proven to be successful in fighting unemployment. In the past year, programs like those proposed have helped put more than 4 million Americans back to work. These investments can continue to assist unemployed Americans, particularly women, get back to work with good jobs that pay higher wages and provide economic security for their families. Targeting funds toward enhancing opportunities for women and other under-represented groups by training women in non-traditional fields like construction and encouraging entrepreneurship among the long-term unemployed will ensure that we build an economy that lifts everybody, not just a few.

Take Gloria Morrison, for example. After juggling part-time jobs since high school as a security officer, sales manager, pizza deliverer and martial arts instructor, her part-time work dried up, and she sank into a depression because she was unable to find work. WOW’s Building Futures job training program for un- and underemployed residents in Washington, DC helped Gloria build new skills in marketable, middle-income work. Now she’s part of an apprenticeship program that is not only a job, but the first step on a career ladder that will provide her both job and economic security.

The President’s plan gives hope that we can move forward with investments in our economy that will be both innovative and effective, and we call on Congress to move now to pass this plan.

Donna Addkison
President/CEO
Wider Opportunities for Women

Super Committee, Don’t Leave Behind Older Women and Their Families

2011-08-24T16:23:00.001-04:00

Times are tough for hardworking Americans of all ages. That’s why it’s imperative that Congress look for a balanced approach (including revenues) to deficit reduction, while protecting low- and middle-income elders who rely on programs like Social Security, Medicaid, Meals on Wheels, the Senior Community Service Employment Program and more.

As hard-working people see the availability of pensions dwindle, many find themselves wholly reliant on Social Security in their retirement years. Social Security is the only source of income for 1 out of 5 elders, and women are more than 60% more likely to live in poverty in their senior years than men are. Due to pay equity issues, the occupational segregation of women in low-wage jobs, and cycling in and out of the workforce due to take care of children and family members, women often find themselves with a Social Security payment that falls short of economic security.

The Elder Economic Security Standard Index (Elder Index) provides a clear picture of the plight faced by women living on average Social Security income. The Elder Index measures the income that older adults require to maintain their independence in the community and meet their daily costs of living. The average annual Social Security income for all women provides a single elder homeowner without a mortgage just under 70% of the income required to achieve economic security. If she rents her home, her average annual Social Security income will provide only 55% of the income required to achieve economic security.

Without employer-based retirement savings income, such as a pension, and/or housing and health care subsidies, the average annual Social Security income alone, although a critical economic security foundation, leaves women struggling to choose among necessities such as heating oil, prescription drugs and food. To close the income gap many elders must draw on state and federal supports including Medicare, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the Medicare Part D (prescription drug) Low Income Subsidy (LIS). As Congress looks for ways to reduce the deficit, it is important that they protect the programs that low- and middle-income Americans rely on to make ends meet in their later years.

Maggie Flowers
Field Manager
Elder Economic Security Initiative

The Initiative Hits the Road to South Dakota!

2011-07-27T14:20:00.001-04:00

Kelly Stellrecht and I recently returned from the Sioux Falls area where I met many dedicated advocates working to help elders achieve economic security across the state.

Experience Works, who is our lead partner in the state, hosted a meeting for their partners to discuss the Initiative and how it will increase their capacity to advocate for seniors. Representatives from Experience Works across the state were there along with staff members from Senators Johnson and Thune’s offices, Volunteers of America, USDA, AARP, Rosebud Indian Reservation and Adult Services and Aging.

Shirley Stuart, State Director of Experience Works welcomes the group.

Learning about the South Dakota Initiative.

The event provided a great opportunity to introduce the framework and tools behind the Initiative, including the Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index (Elder Index), and began preliminary discussions on policy priorities to promote elder economic security in South Dakota. Also at the meeting, the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston presented draft Elder Index data to the group showing what it really costs to retire in three counties in the state. When the Elder Index is officially released this fall, data for all 66 counties will be available.

Their work is important as more than one in four seniors in South Dakota relies on Social Security as their only source of income, amounting to an average income of $10,941/year for women and $14,826/year for men. Additionally, 11% of elders are living below the federal poverty level of $10,890 a year for an individual. The Argus Leader recently highlighted the needs of seniors in South Dakota and the efforts underway through the Initiative.

The South Dakota Initiative is brimming with ideas of how to educate the public and push for public policies that help seniors achieve economic security. Ideas centered on creating a clearinghouse for available services and organizing transportation for seniors in rural communities. Over the next few months, they will develop a robust policy agenda to accompany the Elder Index for South Dakota.

Find out more about the South Dakota Initiative and get involved if you live in the state!

Elder Initiative Launches in Colorado

2011-07-07T12:48:00.002-04:00

Today the Elder Economic Security Initiative™ officially launched in Colorado!

Our state partner, the Colorado Center on Law and Policy, hosted an event focusing on long-term care and family economic security, cosponsored by the African American Caregivers Association. Speakers discussed the Elder Index, which includes data on what it costs for elders to make ends meet in each county. This marks the 14th state to launch the Elder Economic Security Initiative.

Check out the media coverage of the release so far:

Denver Post: Colorado seniors' expenses strain budgets, index shows
Public News Service: Study: Coloradans Are Unprepared for Retirement

The Colorado reports are now available online:

Medicaid Provides Much More Than Aid to Families

2011-06-17T12:06:00.001-04:00

While commonly thought of as a program for low-income families with children, the majority of Medicaid dollars are actually spent on health care for adults age 65 and older and people of all ages with disabilities. In fact, 21% of Medicare beneficiaries, or 9 million people, are also eligible for Medicaid.

According to Tricia Neuman, Vice President and Director of the Medicare Policy Project at the Kaiser Family Foundation, who spoke at a briefing on the subject last week, many Medicare beneficiaries are struggling to get by in retirement. As we know from the Elder Index, the annual costs for basic expenses are $20,326 for a single elder renting an apartment in the US. In comparison, one half of all Medicare beneficiaries live on less than $22,000, for African-American beneficiaries the average is $14,198 and Latino beneficiaries it is $13,527.

To make matters worse, half of all Medicare beneficiaries have less than $53,000 in combined savings. When taking into account that nursing home costs average $75,000 annually, you can imagine how quickly people can spend down to Medicaid reliance.

With so much discussion around capping Medicare and Medicaid spending, it is important to educate yourself for the fight ahead. Join us to learn more about Medicaid by signing up for WOW’s webinar: Budget Battles: Threats to Medicaid on Thursday, June 30 at 3:00pm Eastern.

Maggie Flowers

Field Manager

Elder Economic Security Initiative

The CLASS Act and Older Americans

2011-06-03T10:03:00.000-04:00

We are excited to have a guest post by Kate Josephson of Advance CLASS, Inc. as a follow up to our week-long blogging event.

The Boomer generation is creeping up in age and Medicare and Medicaid services are under fire. Everyone has heard what is happening on Capitol Hill these days – Congressman Ryan’s (R-WI) Budget Plan would turn Medicaid into block grants, causing long-term services to change in this country for anyone who depends on those supports to live in their community. Medicare coverage could also start to deteriorate. Just this past week, it was predicted by Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust that Medicare and Social Security are due to run out sooner than expected. What will our nation’s citizens do if the Treasury bonds used to fund these programs run out?

The Community Living Assistance Supports and Services Act (CLASS Act) was introduced in Congress by the late Senator Kennedy in 2005. It later became part of the Affordable Care Act passed by Congress in March 2010. The idea of the CLASS Act is to help working Americans plan ahead to pay towards the cost of the home care or community assistance they may need if they develop a functional impairment. Anyone who is at least 18 years old and working can pay into the program for just five years to receive a lifetime benefit. The all-cash benefit of at least $50 per day can be triggered once an individual is unable to perform two or more activities of daily living (ADLs) or the cognitive equivalent.

Studies have found that as Americans age they prefer to stay in their homes if at all possible. Studies have also found that it is cheaper for older adults to remain in their homes than it is for them to move into nursing homes. The CLASS Act would allow an elderly person to remain in their home by being able to pay for a few hours of personal care attendant; or the person could save the cash benefit to pay for household changes or even supplement their nursing home care. Either way, home-based personal care would allow the affected individual would be able to remain a connected member of their community for as long as possible.

Throughout the past year, the CLASS Act has come under the scrutiny of Congress. It was blasted by Representative Phil Gingrey and was termed as a “Ponzi Scheme” by Senator Kent Conrad. In March, Representatives Gingrey and Boustany introduced legislation repeal the CLASS Act – however, they offered no plan to replace it. Even though many government officials are worried about the sustainability of CLASS, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has vowed, consistent with the mandate of the law, that she would not introduce an unsustainable product to the American people. The Obama Administration has continued to heed the call for people with disabilities and older Americans to be able to receive care without becoming poor enough to be eligible for Medicaid.

In the Spring of 2011, the Administration set up the Office of CLASS under the umbrella of the Administration on Aging (AoA). Kathy Greenlee, the Assistant Secretary for Aging is leading the office. Now that the office is up and running, older Americans and citizens with disabilities can be sure that their needs will be addressed for future generations. As the CLASS Act moves forward, there will be countless benefits for those people who choose to enroll. Many Americans have a difficult time planning for the future; many don’t like to think about it, and many are unaware of how to properly plan. The CLASS Act will give individuals the opportunity and guidance to be able to plan for their futures without taxpayer assistance. The choice to live your life as you choose is a fundamental cornerstone of this nation – it is time we made that choice available to all our citizens.

Honoring Women's Service on the Front Line

2011-05-31T09:37:00.001-04:00

Yesterday we celebrated Memorial Day -- a day of remembrance for those who have died in military service. When we think about military service, we may often conjure up the image of a “military man” who is part of a “Band of Brothers”. In our images of war women have traditionally been regulated to nurses in field hospitals, government workers, or ‘taking care of the home front’ in our collective memory. While these were essential roles women perform save lives and provide critical services and jobs at home and abroad, women have also made significant contributions in combat historically and in our current wars.

Women have a long history of serving in many combat jobs in the US military. Some highlights include---during the Revolutionary War while women served as nurses, cooks, and laundresses, they were also spies and combat soldiers in disguise. In 1775, Sarah Shattuck, Prudence Wright and other women of Groton, MA, put on their husbands' clothing, and armed themselves to defend the Nashua River Bridge.

In the Civil War both the Union and Confederate armies prohibited women from enlisting. However women did enlist and, often did so, by disguising themselves as men. While we don’t have an official count of the number of women who served in combat during the Civil War, estimates suggest close to 400 women did.
During World War I regular Army and Navy military nurses served overseas, yet they often did so without being given an official rank. During World War II, the need for workers both in the military and on the home front, led to the dismantling of gendered assumptions of work and occupations, and women played pivotal and non-traditional roles. With the help of women workers, total industrial production doubled between 1939 and 1945; over 300,000 aircraft, 12,000 ships, 86,000 tanks, and 64,000 landing craft and millions of artillery pieces and small weapons were produced in American manufacturing. Women also served as spies, strategic analysts and code breakers. In the combat zones of WW II women served and died for the war effort. And 90 women were held as prisoners during the war.

Women’s participation in military service continues to grow. More than 260,000 women have served in Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and New Dawn, and more than 25,000 are serving in the Iraq and Afghanistan today. Not only do they serve, they have lost their lives in this service. As of last month 137 women have died in both wars; with 60 women dying in combat. And, of course, women serve on active duty outside of Iraq and Afghanistan. Currently 14.5 percent of the active duty military members are women; close to 20 percent of the reserve military, and 15 percent of the National Guard.

So women are pivotal to our military service, and they are on the front line; despite official military policy that bans women from units that are in direct combat missions. Recently, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) introduced an amendment “Women’s Fair and Equal Right to Military Service Act” to the 2012 defense authorization bill, to officially recognize women on the front line. This amendment would repeal the policy that prevents women from serving on the front lines. This amendment is quite important, as this existing policy serves as a barrier to women’s advancement in the military, impacts women’s access to benefits, and, simply, does not represent the reality of women in the military.

The military is one of the most powerful areas of gender segregation in our labor market. As we remember those who have bravely served in combat, let us commit to ensure that our military policies and programs that impact women reflect the full realities of the service they perform. In doing so, we will be taking one important step toward providing real recognition and equity for our servicewomen.

Mary Gatta, Ph. D.
Senior Scholar
Wider Opportunities for Women

Day 5: Transportation

2011-05-27T09:15:00.000-04:00

In honor of Older Americans’ Month, Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) is hosting a week-long blogging event to acknowledge how federal income supports build economic security for elders. Select experts from national organizations will author blog posts on the policies that allow elders to close the income gap. WOW will facilitate an online dialogue allowing advocates, service providers, elders, family caregivers and others to learn about the federal programs that build elder economic security and, more importantly, to take action. Each day will focus on a particular aspect of an elder’s budget.

Make your voice heard by taking part in WOW’s blogging event:

• Read and comment on blog posts featured on the National Elder Economic Security Initiative blog.
• Share the blog posts via Facebook, Twitter and e-mail
• Sign and send WOW’s statement of principles for elder economic security.

Let Congress know that you support federal funding to support elders ability to age in place with dignity. We need your voice to protect all things that build economic security for elders.

FRIDAY: On Transportation, featuring...

Susan Rees, Director of National Policy, Wider Opportunities for Women
"Sorry, but You're Grounded"

THURSDAY: On Food Security, featuring...

Enid Borden, Meals On Wheels Association of America
"Is America Failing our Nation's Seniors?"
Paul Downey, Senior Community Centers of San Diego and National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs
"It is More than Just a Meal"
Jen Martin, AARP
"Help Someone Get Food with SNAP"

WEDNESDAY: On Health Care and Long-Term Care, featuring…

January Angeles, Center on Budget & Policy Priorities:
"More to Medicaid than Meets the Eye"
Morgan Gable, Leading Age
"Long-term Services and Supports and the Affordable Care Act"
Danielle Garrett, National Women's Law Center
"Medicaid and Medicare Provide Critical Support for the Long-Term Care Needs of Older Women"
Vicki Gottlich, Center for Medicare Advocacy
"Medicare: An American Success Story"
Laura Howard, The Association of BellTelRetirees
"Health Care Security in Retirement: It's More than Medicare

TUESDAY: On Housing, featuring…

Barbara R. Stucki, Ph. D., National Council on Aging (NCOA):
"Reverse Mortgage Counseling - A 'Teachable Moment' for Financially Vulnerable Older Homeowners"
Alayna Waldrum, LeadingAge
"Housing: Economic Security and an Essential Part of the Continuum of Care"
Kate Birnbryer White, Elder Law of Michigan
"Can I Rent The American Dream?"

MONDAY: On Income Security, featuring...

Nancy Altman, Social Security Works:
"Expand Social Security, Don't Cut It"
Joan Entmacher and Katherine Gallagher Robbins, National Women's Law Center
"Social Security Is Women's Security"
Karen Friedman, Pension Rights Center
"Retirement Under Attack"
Cindy Hounsell, Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER)
"Social Security: Keeping It Strong Now And For The Future"
Gerald McIntyre, National Senior Citizens Law Center
"SSI Must Be Strengthened"
Donna V.S. Ortega, AARP Foundation
"Building Financial Security For Older Americans"
Marci Phillips, National Council on Aging
"One Away And The Older Americans Act"
Kate Birnbryer White, Elder Law of Michigan
"When The Grandparents Lose Economic Security, So Do Children And Grandchildren"

Sorry, but You're Grounded

2011-05-27T09:10:00.000-04:00

Authored by Susan Rees, Director of National Policy, Wider Opportunities for Women

“The conversation” – you know, the one where you try to convince your aging Mom or Dad to give up their car keys -- is occurring with greater frequency across the country. Middle class and suburban elders are increasingly facing the “stranded home alone” situation that has confronted younger people who don’t own cars and residents of distressed urban and rural communities who have always lacked access to decent, affordable transit systems or specialized transportation services. The baby boomers, faced with telling their parents they’re “grounded,” also dread the knowledge that it won’t be long before they are the ones whose independence and mobility will be challenged.

No wonder that 80% of Americans believe the country would benefit from an expanded, improved public transportation system, according to a 2011 poll commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation.
Safe streets and sidewalks and accessible, affordable transit options are critical with the aging of our population. By 2025, 60 million people, one in five Americans, will be 65 or older. Livable communities should be available to anyone, whether they live in cities, suburbs or rural areas. Everyone needs safe streets and sidewalks and affordable housing close to transit. These are the things that will enable seniors to get out, get their groceries, receive medical care, maintain their physical activity and, in short, age in place in their communities.

The Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index shows that transportation is the second or third largest expense in an elder’s budget after housing and, for some, out-of-pocket health care costs. Yet various pending budget proposals, including a balanced budget amendment or universal spending cap, would cut federal transportation subsidies by 30% or even more. Already, 80% of the nation’s transit systems have eliminated routes, cut service hours, increased fares, or a combination of all three, according to the American Public Transportation Association.

There is another way. Curbing our national debt can be achieved over a longer timeframe than proposed and with the help of equitable revenue increases. Meanwhile, President Obama’s transportation initiative could be adopted to create jobs and generate new revenues while providing the kind of transportation services our elders depend upon.

Day 4: Food Security

2011-05-26T08:58:00.003-04:00

Enid Borden, Meals On Wheels Association of America
"Is America Failing our Nation's Seniors?"
Paul Downey, Senior Community Centers of San Diego and National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs
"It is More than Just a Meal"
Jen Martin, AARP
"Help Someone Get Food with SNAP"

WEDNESDAY: On Health Care and Long-Term Care, featuring…

January Angeles, Center on Budget & Policy Priorities:
"More to Medicaid than Meets the Eye"
Morgan Gable, Leading Age
"Long-term Services and Supports and the Affordable Care Act"
Danielle Garrett, National Women's Law Center
"Medicaid and Medicare Provide Critical Support for the Long-Term Care Needs of Older Women"
Vicki Gottlich, Center for Medicare Advocacy
"Medicare: An American Success Story"
Laura Howard, The Association of BellTelRetirees
"Health Care Security in Retirement: It's More than Medicare

TUESDAY: On Housing, featuring…

Barbara R. Stucki, Ph. D., National Council on Aging (NCOA):
"Reverse Mortgage Counseling - A 'Teachable Moment' for Financially Vulnerable Older Homeowners"
Alayna Waldrum, LeadingAge
"Housing: Economic Security and an Essential Part of the Continuum of Care"
Kate Birnbryer White, Elder Law of Michigan
"Can I Rent The American Dream?"

MONDAY: On Income Security, featuring...

Nancy Altman, Social Security Works:
"Expand Social Security, Don't Cut It"
Joan Entmacher and Katherine Gallagher Robbins, National Women's Law Center
"Social Security Is Women's Security"
Karen Friedman, Pension Rights Center
"Retirement Under Attack"
Cindy Hounsell, Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER)
"Social Security: Keeping It Strong Now And For The Future"
Gerald McIntyre, National Senior Citizens Law Center
"SSI Must Be Strengthened"
Donna V.S. Ortega, AARP Foundation
"Building Financial Security For Older Americans"
Marci Phillips, National Council on Aging
"One Away And The Older Americans Act"
Kate Birnbryer White, Elder Law of Michigan
"When The Grandparents Lose Economic Security, So Do Children And Grandchildren"

It is More than Just a Meal

2011-05-26T08:56:00.000-04:00

Authored by Paul Downey, President/CEO, Senior Community Centers of San Diego and President, National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs

Even the most skeptical contrarian would have trouble disputing the link between proper nutrition and overall health, particularly for seniors. So why is this truism important in the cacophony that passes for debate on how to cut federal spending and reduce the debt?

The answer is in the next linkage. Better health allows seniors to remain independent longer. This delays or eliminates the need for higher levels of care like skilled nursing facilities. Besides being much happier, seniors living independently have greater economic security because they do not have the burden of spending $5,000 a month or more for institutionalized care. For seniors without personal resources, independence means that the tremendous financial burden for institutionalization is not transferred to their families or taxpayers.

The aging network in the United States serves more than 200 million congregate and home delivered meals (HDM) via the Older Americans Act. The impact of these meals is healthier seniors who are able to remain independent in their own homes at considerable cost savings to themselves and the community. Providing senior meals is cheap insurance when compared to the exorbitantly expensive alternatives.

That is why the budget proposed by Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) to cut domestic spending for the Older Americans Act to fiscal year 2008 levels represents a false economy. Draconian cuts to senior meals will mean significantly more unhealthy seniors who are no longer able to live independently. The question for Congressman Ryan and his cohorts is, do you want to make an investment in the health and wellbeing of older adults or pay through the nose later via Medicare and Medicaid?

I hope when that question is ultimately answered, our elected leaders will conclude that the return on investment of health promotion rather than illness represents the best choice from a human and fiscal perspective.

Is America Failing our Seniors?

2011-05-26T08:53:00.000-04:00

Authored by Enid Borden, President and CEO, Meals On Wheels Association of America

In 2008, the Meals On Wheels Association of America released the results of a groundbreaking research report entitled "The Causes, Consequences and Future of Senior Hunger in America" that our Foundation had commissioned. The findings of the co-principal investigators, Dr. James Ziliak of the University of Kentucky and Dr. Craig Gundersen then of the University of Iowa, were shocking and unacceptable. In 2001, the research showed, five million seniors in the United States, or one in nine, were facing the threat of hunger. The next year, we asked the same researchers to examine several more years of data and update the report. By 2007, the number of seniors facing the threat of hunger was six million. Any reader who can do the math knows that is a 20 percent increase in just six years. But without context, the average reader might not be able to grasp the magnitude of the number. Let me give some context. There are 33 states in this country that each have total state populations of less than 6 million.

Is America failing our nation's seniors? And if we are moving in clearly the wrong direction where senior hunger is concerned today, what of the future?

The baby boomers (and I am one of them) are now entering the ranks of older persons, and it is safe to assume that we will be a demanding lot, constantly in search of more and different kinds of services. We will not likely want to live in assisted living or the even less desirous nursing home environment as have generations before us. Rather, we will want to live independently in community settings. Yet that raises a critical question: Can community-based organizations and the concomitant services needed keep up with the demand? Or will America, having failed to turn the tide on senior hunger with the current generation continue down the path of failure with the next-- and much larger-- generation of our nation's seniors?

It is easy to focus on the short-term view of the past, the last couple of decades that have seen a faltering economy that went from great highs to unparalleled, sustained lows and a burgeoning population of older adults, and to lay the blame here. But we have seen depression in the place of deep recession in the more distant past. And we have seen population surges like that of the last century, not driven by birth rates, but by immigrants who came to these shores seeking a better life. Many of those older persons, like my own grandparents, came into this vast, wonderful land of ours, this great melting pot, seeking the American dream. Even with its own troubles, America did not fail them.

But it is different for millions of older Americans today. At least 6 million in 2007; and while we do not have more current research to account for the impact of the economy of the past several years on seniors, one researcher has suggested that the real number of those facing hunger's real, ominous and daily threat might be 30 percent higher.

All the while, when the national debate, turns to seniors and senior issues, the discussion seems confined primarily to Social Security and Medicare - "their programs," those entitlements to which individuals who have paid into the system look for help to sustain them in their elder years. They regard their payments to the trust funds as investments, and they expect to reap some advantages from those investments. Fair enough. But because these programs are entitlements -- which means both that they guarantee some benefit and that they are costly to the budget to maintain (particularly as there are fewer and fewer young people paying into the system than in years past) -- they have become the rallying cry for those who say "look at what we do for seniors. What more do they want?"

Well, sometimes it's not about what they want, but what they need. Feeding the hungry is not a response to an optional want. It's a moral obligation and food is certainly something to which every man, woman and child is entitled. Plainly put, it's not good enough any longer for Meals On Wheels to be viewed as a feel-good, do-good social service program. Surely local Meals On Wheels programs are that, and they are integral parts of the fabric of every community. That is why the data show us that 99 percent of the American public views these programs positively. But that's not enough. Our elected officials love these programs, and we are grateful for that. At least once a year they are pleased to do a photo-op delivering a meal. But is once a year enough?

When budget issues arise in Congress and the two parties are duking it out on the floor of the Congress, Meals On Wheels generally comes up. But is it good enough to use the story of cutting off meals to seniors and then fail to make adequate funds available to meet the need, so that in the end, after the partisan sparring is over, Meals On Wheels programs in fact have to reduce the number of meals or the number of seniors they serve?

So, I ask the question again. Is America failing our nation's seniors? And, what do we do about it? We, at Meals On Wheels programs throughout the United States, continue to deliver the best services and meals that we can. We are asked to perform two separate tasks. First, to simply feed those seniors who would otherwise go hungry. Second -- and this sets Meals On Wheels and our services apart -- to ensure that those being fed receive food that is nutritious; that meets government guidelines for nutritional composition; that is maintained at proper temperatures, even if they are being transported forty or more miles along with other meal deliveries being made to other seniors waiting for their food; that is medically, ethnically, and religiously appropriate; and that tastes good, too.

Is America failing our nation's seniors? The statistics would say the answer is yes. But are we failing our nation's seniors? No. We are Meals On Wheels, and Meals On Wheels programs are not failing our nation's seniors. Our programs are a lifeline and an anchor for the hundreds of thousands of seniors who need a helping hand. Yes, we can and we will end senior hunger and provide nutritious meals at the same time. We have the courage of our convictions and we will stand up against those who would seek to shut us out and shut us down. There simply is no other option.

Stand with us. In this the richest nation on Earth no one should go hungry. We must not fail our nation's seniors. Stand with us in this fight.

Day 3: Health Care and Long-Term Care

2011-05-25T10:20:00.001-04:00

January Angeles, Center on Budget & Policy Priorities:
"More to Medicaid than Meets the Eye"
Morgan Gable, Leading Age
"Long-term Services and Supports and the Affordable Care Act"
Danielle Garrett, National Women's Law Center
"Medicaid and Medicare Provide Critical Support for the Long-Term Care Needs of Older Women"
Vicki Gottlich, Center for Medicare Advocacy
"Medicare: An American Success Story"
Laura Howard, The Association of BellTelRetirees
"Health Care Security in Retirement: It's More than Medicare"

Health Care Security in Retirement: It's More than Medicare

2011-05-25T10:18:00.002-04:00

Authored by Laura Howard, The Association of BellTel Retirees

A main issue facing retirees in America is the security of their health care. And we're not talking about Medicare. There are approximately 14.3 million retirees who earned health care benefits in retirement during their working years. However, employer-sponsored retiree health care benefits are disappearing in the United States.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation's Employer Health Benefits 2010 Annual Survey, employer-provided health coverage for retirees has decreased significantly in the past two decades and continues to decline. In 1988, 66 percent of companies with 200+ workers who offered health benefits to employees were offering similar benefits to retirees. By 2008, only 31 percent of large firms offered coverage to retirees, and in 2010 the number dropped once again to 28 percent.

Many retirees worked 20, 30 or more years for their employer, remained loyal to their companies and, in return, companies committed to providing health care coverage in retirement. These benefits were considered deferred compensation and employees were asked to take lower pay, less vacation time, or other concessions for the assurance that their retirement health care would be secure. Companies also benefited from the lower rates of pay through lower payroll taxes and lower pension obligations. Over a career, these concessions add up to large investment by retirees in their own future health care and financial security which many employers have chosen to ignore.

For many retirees, this uncertainty comes at a time when costs continue to rise but pensions have not been increased, Social Security COLAs have stopped, and 401ks have diminished due to the economy.

Unfortunately, when policy makers and even the general public think about seniors' health care, they only focus on Medicare. While it is a large and important component, seniors know that their health care is more than just Medicare, and many have the out-of-pocket expenses to prove it. Retirees are continually being asked to do more with less and asking them to pay for the health care benefits they earned during their working years is unfair and irresponsible.

The issue of health care security is inextricably linked to one's financial security in retirement. Seniors have many factors to consider when deciding whether or not to retire; the security of their health care benefits is a major consideration. Preserving these earned benefits is critical to maintaining the independence and financial security of retirees while reducing the burden on Medicare and Medicaid.

The Association of BellTel Retirees believes that Congress must adopt policies and pass legislation that hold corporations accountable to their employees and retirees and does not allow them to breach a trust that was earned through years of hard work.

Medicare: An American Success Story

2011-05-25T09:18:00.001-04:00

Authored by Vicki Gottlich, Senior Policy Attorney, Center for Medicare Advocacy

Medicare is an American success story. When the program was enacted in 1965, half of all older people were uninsured. Now virtually all older people have health insurance through Medicare. Medicare also helped reduce the percentage of older people living at or below the poverty rate, from 25% in 1965 to 16% in 2008.

And Medicare provides protection for more than just older people and people with disabilities who are eligible for the program. Family members have peace of mind knowing their older relatives or relatives with disabilities have health insurance to pay for needed medical care – and from knowing that they won’t have to choose between paying for a parent or disabled relative’s health needs and a child’s college education.

Like all domestic programs, Medicare is under attack as costing the federal government too much money. In fact, the budget recently passed by the House of Representatives pretends to save money by turning Medicare into a voucher program. Instead of receiving a defined and guaranteed set of health benefits, people eligible for Medicare would get a fixed dollar amount to go buy whatever health insurance they could afford with the voucher in the private market.

Ironically, Congress created Medicare because these same private insurance companies did not want to sell insurance to older people and people with disabilities, whose age and chronic conditions made them more costly to insure. There is no guarantee that in a voucher program private insurance companies would sell health insurance policies to Medicare beneficiaries, or that the vouchers would cover the cost of the insurance policies, or that the policies would cover the full range of benefits currently provided under Medicare. And the Congressional Budget Office has already stated that, under the voucher program, Medicare beneficiaries would pay twice as much for their health care as they do under Medicare today.

Ironically, too, private insurance companies have not done a good job in reducing the costs of Medicare. In the 1990’s, and again in 2003, Congress expanded the role that private insurance companies play in Medicare on the theory that they would save money for the program. Instead, the private HMOs and other Medicare Advantage plans ended up costing Medicare on average 13% more than Medicare would have paid if the same person had remained in the traditional Medicare program. These overpayments increased the cost of Medicare Part B premiums and depleted the Medicare trust fund more quickly. To protect Medicare, health care reform legislation enacted last year changed the way private health plans are paid to reduce overpayments and to reward quality.

Medicare is also threatened by proposals to impose global spending caps on all domestic programs. Such caps would require an across-the-board cut for all domestic spending by a set percentage amount. The cuts to Medicare would be so steep that the only way to continue the program would be to change eligibility and benefits – and perhaps to turn Medicare into a voucher program as House Republicans have already voted to do.

To all those who want to cut Medicare because of the current fiscal difficulties, I say, “Medicare already gave at the office.” Health care reform legislation enacted in 2010 included changes to the program designed to reduce Medicare expenditures by promoting more effective delivery systems that will improve quality and reduce costs; by eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse; and by revising how health care providers are paid. These reforms should be allowed to take effect before policymakers look to take more out of Medicare.

And, while the cost of Medicare to the federal government raises concerns for some, advocates for older people and people with disabilities worry about the cost of Medicare to the beneficiaries it serves. Medicare beneficiaries pay, on average, twice as much out-of-pocket for their health care than others, and the share of their income that they pay in out-of-pocket costs continues to rise. In an ideal world, we would be advocating to reduce the burdens of Medicare by adding catastrophic coverage in the form of a cap on out-of-pocket expenses. But, unfortunately, we don’t live in an ideal world where all policy makers understand the benefit of a universal health insurance program for older people and people with disabilities. Just the opposite - some policy makers want to increase costs to beneficiaries by turning Medicare into a voucher program or by asking beneficiaries to pay more in premiums or for Medicare-covered services.

In sum, Medicare is an American success story. For 45 years it has offered health coverage to vulnerable populations and helped to reduce poverty. It would be fiscally irresponsible to destroy Medicare in the guise of deficit reduction, and to move this country back to the mid-Twentieth Century, when older people and people with disabilities could not obtain health insurance.

Long-Term Services and Supports and the Affordable Care Act

2011-05-25T09:13:00.001-04:00

Authored by Morgan Gable, HCBS & Health Legislative Representative, LeadingAge

As you may have heard, there are various proposals that were passed under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that are under attack (either through repeal or de-funding efforts) that would strengthen our nation’s long-term services and supports system. Members of Congress should continue with funding and implementation efforts for these much-needed changes. Many of these initiatives won’t take effect for a while, or are in their early stages, but some are already on the move!

One of the most promising provisions relating to home and community-based services that is underway is the “State Demonstrations to Integrate Care for Dual Eligible Individuals.” The Center on Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that 15 states will receive $1 million to better integrate care for individuals who rely on both Medicare and Medicaid.

Another exciting initiative is the Community First Choice option that is slated to begin in October 2011. This is an important opportunity for states because it includes a 6% increase in the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) for providing community-based attendant services and supports for eligible Medicaid recipients.

Another opportunity that is currently available is the Community-Based Care Transitions program. CMS is currently taking applications for this program that will assist hospitals with high readmission rates by encouraging them to partner with community-based organizations in order to better transition from the hospital back into the community.

All of these programs, created by the passage of the ACA, provide tremendous opportunities for states to better improve the quality of care for individuals on Medicare and Medicaid, and to save money by streamlining the provision of higher quality services to older adults across the country.

More to Medicaid than Meets the Eye

2011-05-25T09:08:00.001-04:00

Authored by January Angeles, Senior Policy Analyst, Center on Budget & Policy Priorities

About 6 million of Medicaid’s beneficiaries are seniors. Almost all of them are also eligible for Medicare, but Medicaid is critical to filling the gaps in Medicare coverage that these seniors could not afford to pay for on their own.

Medicaid pays for certain health and long-term care services that Medicare either does not cover or covers to a more limited extent. For example, the overwhelming majority of Medicare beneficiaries who live in nursing homes rely on Medicaid for their nursing home coverage. Medicaid also provides more comprehensive coverage than Medicare for home health care, mental health services, durable medical equipment, and other health care items and services.

Medicaid also pays the Medicare premiums and other out-of-pocket costs for seniors with low incomes, who would have a hard time affording these expenses on their own. Medicare Part B premiums alone cost $1,157 per year, and beneficiaries have a co-payment of 20 percent for many outpatient services. In 2011, Medicare deductibles are $162 for physician services and $1,132 for hospitalizations.

As policymakers look for ways to reduce the federal budget deficit, Medicaid is increasingly on the chopping block. For example, the House-passed budget plan would convert Medicaid into a block grant and cuts its funding severely. If this sort of proposal became law, low-income seniors would lose access to important supplemental benefits that Medicaid provides and go without needed health care and long-term services and supports.

Here’s why. Currently, the federal government pays a fixed percentage of a state’s Medicaid costs; under a block grant, it would pay only a fixed dollar amount each year and states would be responsible for all costs above that amount. Moreover, to reduce federal spending, the House budget would provide states with much less Medicaid funding than they would receive under the current system — 35 percent less by 2022 and a staggering 49 percent less by 2030, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

To make up for these deep reductions, states would have to greatly increase their own Medicaid spending or, as is more likely, sharply scale back eligibility, cap enrollment, and/or cut benefits. This would make it much harder for millions of low-income seniors — among the most vulnerable Medicaid beneficiaries — to get the care they need.

Rather than radically restructure Medicaid in ways that would simply shift costs on to states and vulnerable people, Congress should focus on ways to make the program more sustainable over the long term, such as by helping states provide more cost-efficient care without sacrificing quality. Last year’s health reform law, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), includes several measures to slow health costs by restructuring the way we deliver care.

For example, the ACA establishes a center within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services dedicated to improving the quality and continuity of care for seniors and people with disabilities who receive both Medicaid and Medicare — a high-needs group that accounts for 15 percent of Medicaid’s beneficiaries but 39 percent of its spending. The ACA also sets up a number of demonstration projects that would change the way we pay providers to encourage them to deliver better, more coordinated care.

We need to give these measures a chance to succeed. Initiatives like these, not radical block-granting experiments, will enable us to better control health care costs and ensure that Medicaid is always there for our most vulnerable seniors.

Day 2: Housing

2011-05-24T10:22:00.000-04:00

In honor of Older Americans’ Month, Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) is hosting a week-long blogging event to acknowledge how federal income supports build economic security for elders. Select experts from national organizations will author blog posts on the policies that allow elders to close the income gap. WOW will facilitate an online dialogue allowing advocates, service providers, elders, family caregivers and others to learn about the federal programs that build elder economic security and, more importantly, to take action. Each day will focus on a particular aspect of an elder’s budget.

Make your voice heard by taking part in WOW’s blogging event:

• Read and comment on blog posts featured on the National Elder Economic Security Initiative blog.
• Share the blog posts via Facebook, Twitter and e-mail
• Sign and send WOW’s statement of principles for elder economic security.

Let Congress know that you support federal funding to support elders ability to age in place with dignity. We need your voice to protect all things that build economic security for elders.

TUESDAY: On Housing, featuring…

Barbara R. Stucki, Ph. D., National Council on Aging (NCOA):
"Reverse Mortgage Counseling - A 'Teachable Moment' for Financially Vulnerable Older Homeowners"
Alayna Waldrum, LeadingAge
"Housing: Economic Security and an Essential Part of the Continuum of Care"
Kate Birnbryer White, Elder Law of Michigan
"Can I Rent The American Dream?"

Why All Things Shouldn't Be 'On the Table' for Cuts
Authored by Stacy Sanders, Director of the Elder Economic Security Initiative at WOW

“All things are on the table,” is an often-heard mantra in the nation’s capital these days. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are looking to slash critical public assistance programs, ranging from housing subsidies to meals programs, and social insurance, including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Drastic spending cuts in these areas are paraded as an essential means of reigning in the nation’s debt. What’s often missing from this dialogue is the fact that these programs support basic economic security for elders and their families. It is increasingly important that advocates, service providers and citizens voice collective support for the many federally funded policies and services that allow elders to make ends meet. Cuts to these programs target vulnerable older adults who have already made disproportionate sacrifices.

Can I Rent The American Dream?

2011-05-24T10:21:00.001-04:00

Authored by Kate Birnbryer White, Executive Director, Elder Law of Michigan

An interesting by-product of the housing crisis is the movement away from home ownership as a goal for families and those who aspire to the American Dream. Even celebrities are moving toward rentals in the current challenging housing market.

While renting might be a good idea for some people who need the flexibility to move to follow employment or can’t yet afford to own a home, the glut of housing on the market is hurting families in the third act of the American Dream….retirement. In my view, at least here in the Mid-west, the first act of the American Dream is buying your first home; the second act is the home where you raise your kids; the third act is where you live in retirement.

There are pros and cons to renting and a lot depends on your personal situation. Renting property can make a lot of sense for retirees. Giving up some of the responsibilities and costs to maintain a home is often a good solution for people who want to live in a multi-generational single family home in a neighborhood. But for retirees who are living in a home that they can’t sell, or is not worth much because of the foreclosures on the market, they are victimized again by the recession which has gutted their savings and investments for retirement.

At the same time older adults and the working poor need to make important decisions about where to live and how to pay for it, Congress has cut funding for the HUD Housing Counseling Assistance Program in fiscal year 2012 federal budget. Hopefully Congress will think better of it and find a way to restore this vital program that protects property values and communities before they finalize the 2012 federal budget.

We desperately need more creative solutions on how to provide affordable housing options for people aspiring to the American Dream, and not reduce funding for the information and infrastructure that could fuel new ideas to solve a problem that is not going away. Maybe my next job will be as a non-profit rental agent helping middle-class retirees rent out their homes so that they can afford to move into assisted living, apartments or homes that can be modified to support their desire to age in place. But that leads me back to my original question…can you rent the American Dream—in retirement? I am not sure. At this point, I am hoping that the older adults I know who can’t sell their homes at least have the chance to break even and aren’t forced to take a short sale on their retirement.

Housing: Economic Security and an Essential Part of the Continuum of Care

2011-05-24T09:35:00.000-04:00

Authored by Alayna Waldrum, Housing Legislative Representative, LeadingAge

Housing is the keystone in the continuum of care for America’s seniors. Without access to stable, supportive, affordable housing seniors cannot age safely with the services that they need. Housing affordability is essential for all of us, but especially for seniors living on fixed incomes and managing service needs. Their housing options are few and dwindling every day. There are 3.6 million seniors living below the poverty level. The HUD 2009 Worst Case Housing Needs study includes 1.33 million seniors with worst case housing needs and there is a documented increase in the elderly and near elderly who are homeless.

Our short-term challenge involves retaining funding for existing housing programs and replacing lost units with new development. Many members of Congress are promoting “solutions” for the federal budget crisis – to be played out in grand proportions shortly in the debate on the debt ceiling. Those solutions involve caps and triggers to slash federal spending with no regard for the impact these cuts will have on affordable housing and other programs serving the poor. The fiscal year 2011 appropriations compromise left the Section 202 supportive housing program with 2,000 + units cut from the fiscal year 2010 production level. Without affordable housing a major segment of our long term care system will not work.

Seniors rely disproportionately on federal housing programs and comprise a growing percentage of public housing and Section 8 voucher holders. The average HUD Section 202 residents is a woman, in her mid-to-late 70s, with an annual income of just over $10,000 and in need of assistance with a growing list of activities of daily living. If the indiscriminate cuts proposed become law and the HUD budget is cut along with other essential programs, it is this type of resident that will be forced into homelessness, institutional care or substandard and unsafe housing.

A comprehensive national policy for affordable housing and services is needed. Whether it’s HUD’s Section 202, public housing, the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program and rural housing, these programs will pay dividends by reducing long-term health care costs and preventing premature entry into institutional settings. Congress must adopt a bipartisan commitment to protecting and serving our seniors and reinvest savings created by a housing + services model back into developing new supportive housing.

Like many of my colleagues in the aging and housing field I believe that the concern over the growing senior population should be a major policy issue for Congress. Providing less protection and leaving our seniors to the imperfect marketplace for housing and long term services and supports is not policy making. And worse, it ignores what is in the country’s best interest.

Reverse Mortgage Counseling - A "Teachable Moment" for Financially Vulnerable Older Homeowners

2011-05-24T09:22:00.000-04:00

Authored by Barbara R. Stucki, Ph.D., Vice President, Home Equity Initiatives, National Council on Aging

Role of HECM reverse mortgage counseling in building elder economic security

Ensuring financial security can be challenging in times of economic uncertainty. As they search for solutions, older homeowners are realizing that they many need to tap home equity to fill financial gaps. Some are deciding to take out a reverse mortgage. With little guidance, however, they are unsure about whether these loans are appropriate to manage cash flow and stay independent.

Today, nearly all reverse mortgages are HUD HECM (Home Equity Conversion Mortgage) loans. Under this government program, all potential borrowers must meet with one of the 800 independent, HUD-approved counselors who offer assistance in person or by phone. The goal of this counseling is to educate and empower older homeowners to make their own decision. Reverse mortgage counselors look at the person’s entire situation—from a budgetary, health, and lifestyle perspective—to see whether this financing option can help them to age in place. HUD requires counselors to discuss:

• Client goals for using a reverse mortgage.
• Life factors that could affect their ability to stay at home and benefit from a reverse mortgage.
• An overview of different reverse mortgages and loan features.
• The amount of money that may be available and how much this loan could cost.
• Other housing, services, and financial options that could help them meet their goals.

For clients with incomes under 200 % of poverty, the conversation must include a BenefitsCheckUp® screening, so that they are aware of public programs that can serve as a supplement or alternative to a reverse mortgage. HUD also requires counselors to send each client a customized review of different loan options and costs, the National Council on Aging (NCOA) Use Your Home to Stay at Home booklet, and other consumer information about reverse mortgages, In addition to their counseling certificate.

Immediate threats to funding the HECM counseling program

Congress defunded the HUD Housing Counseling Program in the fiscal year2011 federal budget, including about $11 million for reverse mortgage counseling. As a result of these cuts, all seniors who are considering these loans will soon have to pay an upfront fee for counseling. This is a significant change from recent HUD policy, where counselors could only charge clients with incomes under 200 % of poverty if they decided to take out a reverse mortgage, at the time of loan closing.

The fiscal year Y2012 federal budget could restore funding for the HUD Housing Counseling Program. However, in these times of fiscal belt-tightening, nothing is certain. NCOA, housing counseling agencies, and other organizations are working hard to ensure continued funding of this critical program. It is vital that older Americans get unbiased information, ideally before they talk to a lender, so they do not misuse the home equity they have spent a lifetime to accumulate.

Improving Counseling

For many older people, it is no longer a question of if they will tap home equity, but rather when and how. Home equity can augment a person’s income to meet basic expenses. With limited savings, older homeowners can also use this asset to cope with unexpected health and household expenses. For many seniors, these decisions are driven by the need to manage growing consumer debt.
A reverse mortgage, when used appropriately, can be a powerful tool for many older adults to remain economically secure and independent. However, there are many unresolved issues and unanswered questions, on how best to use these loans to assist financially vulnerable older homeowners who struggle to remain at home. We can improve reverse mortgage counseling and loans by:

• Increasing the knowledge base – More research is needed to evaluate the benefits and risks of products and polices, and to develop safer and more effective solutions for seniors.
• Increasing accessibility to consumer education– The Aging Services Network should become a focal point for reverse mortgage education. Policymakers, senior advocates, and financial planners also need to broaden the conversation from “reverse mortgages” to “how to appropriately unlock home equity.”
• Strengthening consumer protections and products – HUD, aging organizations, and the industry should work together to find ways to reduce loan costs, improve loan products, and advance public policy, especially for frail and impaired elders, and those with modest value homes.

NCOA is working to foster these collaborative partnerships to make home equity work better as a financing option and enhance the economic security of older homeowners.

When The Grandparents Lose Economic Security, So Do Children And Grandchildren

2011-05-23T17:41:00.006-04:00

Authored by Kate Birnbryer White, Executive Director, Elder Law of Michigan

There may be glimmers of an economic recovery, but for many families ravaged by unemployment, a secure income and a middle class lifestyle are lost for the foreseeable future. Families are increasingly turning to one another for financial help. A new survey, Baby Boomer Moms Keep Supporting Grown Kids completed last month confirms trends that many of us in human services have seen for awhile.

As the leading edge of the baby boomers turn 65 this year, we need to think about how policies that impact the income of older adults will affect dependent family members. Older adults are key familial supports for their grown children and grandchildren, particularly in these hard economic times. Last year the Pew Research Center released several recent reports that highlight the return to multi-generational housing and the rise of grandparents taking care of grandchildren.

It may be that Michigan is once again the canary in the economic coal mine. At Elder Law of Michigan we are seeing more families calling us with financial concerns because they are the primary financial support for multiple generations. The duration of the recession may mean that affected families have very little cushion for the things that come up in life like car repairs, medical expenses, home repairs, and rising gas prices.The Michigan Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index shows that a single elder renter needs $19,058 a year to make ends meet. The many elders do not have enough income to meet their basic expenses for food, housing, medical care and transportation in retirement. Despite their hard times, they are doing something that has been true since the beginning of civilization—they will use whatever they have to support their children and grandchildren.

Preserving Social Security and Medicare for the grandparents, including all us future grandparents is critically important to ensure that multi-generational families survive the recession and claw their way back to the middle class.

Day 1: Income Security

2011-05-23T12:20:00.012-04:00

In honor of Older Americans’ Month, Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) is hosting a week-long blogging event to acknowledge how federal income supports build economic security for elders. Select experts from national organizations will author blog posts on the policies that allow elders to close the income gap. WOW will facilitate an online dialogue allowing advocates, service providers, elders, family caregivers and others to learn about the federal programs that build elder economic security and, more importantly, to take action. Each day will focus on a particular aspect of an elder’s budget.

Make your voice heard by taking part in WOW’s blogging event:

• Read and comment on blog posts featured on the National Elder Economic Security Initiative blog.
• Share the blog posts via Facebook, Twitter and e-mail
• Sign and send WOW’s statement of principles for elder economic security.

Let Congress know that you support federal funding to support elders ability to age in place with dignity. We need your voice to protect all things that build economic security for elders.

MONDAY: On Income Security, featuring…

Nancy Altman, Social Security Works:
"Expand Social Security, Don't Cut It"
Joan Entmacher and Katherine Gallagher Robbins, National Women's Law Center
"Social Security Is Women's Security"
Karen Friedman, Pension Rights Center
"Retirement Under Attack"
Cindy Hounsell, Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER)
"Social Security: Keeping It Strong Now And For The Future"
Gerald McIntyre, National Senior Citizens Law Center
"SSI Must Be Strengthened"
Donna V.S. Ortega, AARP Foundation
"Building Financial Security For Older Americans"
Marci Phillips, National Council on Aging
"One Away And The Older Americans Act"
Kate Birnbryer White, Elder Law of Michigan
"When The Grandparents Lose Economic Security, So Do Children And Grandchildren"

One Away and the Older Americans Act

2011-05-23T12:14:00.000-04:00

Authored by Marci Phillips, Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, National Council on Aging

One in three older adults struggle with economic security, with annual incomes below $22,000, and millions more live right on the edge. They are forced to decide each day whether to pay for medicine, food, rent, or utilities. They live one bad break, one missed rent check, or one health problem away from a financial crisis.
Despite their struggles, their voices are unheard, and they face a frustrating system ill-equipped to respond to their complex needs.

In response, the National Council on Aging (NCOA) launched One Away, a national video advocacy campaign that gives voice to older adults who are struggling to make ends meet and mobilizes advocacy for policy change (www.OneAway.org). Through our work with the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), the National Center for Benefits Outreach and Enrollment, and the Economic Security Initiative, we have proposed a series of policy goals to help older adults achieve economic security:

Fostering development of holistic, person-centered economic case management strategies to provide access to a comprehensive array of financial and social services.
Improving access to and coordination of public benefits for older adults in greatest need.
Strengthening the efficiency and effectiveness of systems and policies designed to empower and assist vulnerable seniors.

The primary vehicle we have identified to achieve these goals is the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act (OAA), scheduled to occur later this year. NCOA collaborated with Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) on “A Blueprint for Increasing the Economic Security of Older Adults: Recommendations for the Older Americans Act”, which details our OAA proposals, including defining economic security and establishing it as a goal of the Act; supporting use of local measures of economic security to plan, evaluate and target services; and supporting research, evaluation and dissemination of best practices in measuring economic security and implementing economic case management.

The roadmap for moving reauthorization this year is not entirely clear, and the timetable could easily slip. However, the One Away campaign has been designed to be flexible in order to leverage advocacy on a variety of elder economic security vehicles. Each month, we focus on a particular aspect of elder economic security to drive our advocacy and our messaging: this month the theme is health; next month it will be housing.

Perhaps the most pressing challenge we currently face is the potential for the current deficit reduction debate to turn back investments in key services and benefits for vulnerable older adults. We have already seen SCSEP, the only federal program providing job training and placement services for low-income older adults, slashed by 45 percent, and the Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program cut by more than 50 percent. Proposals for next year’s funding include cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and LIHEAP.

Visit www.OneAway.org today to learn how you can join the campaign and lend your voice to protecting and enhancing the economic security of older Americans.

SSI Must be Strengthened

2011-05-23T12:12:00.000-04:00

Authored by Gerald McIntyre , Directing Attorney, National Senior Citizens Law Center

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program was established to provide critical subsistence income to those older people and people with disabilities who are in greatest economic need. As Pres. Nixon said on the day he signed the SSI program into law, “For millions of older people, it can mean a big step out of poverty and toward a life of dignity and independence.” Today eight million people rely on this program for survival. Two out of every three people over the age of 65 who are receiving SSI are women, most often single women. In order to qualify for SSI, you cannot have more than $2,000 in resources (a home, an automobile and basic household necessities are not counted) and, in most states you cannot have more than $694 in monthly income. If you qualify, the maximum monthly grant you can receive in most of the country is $674. For most SSI recipients, that is the only income they have. For those who do have other income, it is most likely a small Social Security benefit and the SSI grant is reduced to reflect the Social Security benefit.

Yet even these very modest benefits are at risk in the current budget debate. For example, if Congress were to enact an across-the-board spending cap, SSI would be severely impacted and the monthly SSI benefit would be reduced from its already inadequate level. The impact on SSI would be even more severe if, as has been discussed, some major areas of government spending such as defense, Medicare and Social Security were exempt from the cap. The cuts would soon be reflected in unprecedented levels of homelessness among America’s elderly and disabled population. A yet worse result might be anticipated from a proposal by the House Republican Policy Committee to dismantle the SSI program and replace it with block grants to the states funded at 2007 funding levels. Already, without any of the more draconian proposals being adopted, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has seen a decrease in administrative funding at the same time the caseload pressure has been increasing. Furthermore drastic cuts in administrative funding are threatened. If these cuts are put into effect, SSA offices will be closed, office staff will be furloughed, already long processing times will be increased and some people will lose access to the program altogether.

Yes, the SSI program needs changes. It needs changes to bring it up to date, not changes to return to the time of the Elizabethan Poor Law. Unfortunately, over the years SSI has been all but forgotten in Washington, except when it comes time to look for ways of saving money. This emphasis needs to change. To begin with, the Federal Benefit Rate of $674 needs to be increased. Also, at present, you cannot have more than $2,000 in resources (not counting your home, automobile or household furnishings) in order to be eligible for SSI. This amount has increased only 33% since the program was put into law 39 years ago.

During that same time, the cost of living has increased over 400%. The resource limit needs to be increased to $10,000 so that those who are trying to stay in their own homes, can afford to pay for some inevitable and necessary repairs. Another outmoded provision is one which reduces the maximum federal benefit to $449 a month for someone living in the household of another person. Often that other person is a relative, also with limited income, who cannot afford to subsidize the SSI recipient. Finally, as in any program of this size and complexity, it is inevitable that mistakes will be made in determining eligibility or amount of benefits. The U.S. Constitution requires that there be an effective means of appealing these determinations. Unfortunately, the appeals system at SSA is a shambles and SSI recipients are left with no effective means of appeal. The integrity of the appeals process must be restored as part of any SSI modernization.

Social Security: Keeping it Strong Now and for the Future

2011-05-23T12:09:00.004-04:00

Authored by Cindy Hounsell Executive Director, Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER)

Social Security is a hot topic in the news today. Many are publicly asking: will the system still be here for future generations? While there is a lot that can be done to strengthen the solvency of Social Security, the truth is that it’s not going broke and there are plenty of reasons to maintain it as a strong and sound social insurance program. In fact according to the most recent Trustees Report there was an annual surplus of $69 billion in 2010.

So here’s the big question: What exactly is the Social Security shortfall and how urgent is the need to fix the system? Key demographic changes do put a more immediate strain on Social Security’s financing:

The large boomer generation is beginning to retire, so more people will be collecting benefits. People are not only living longer and collecting benefits for longer periods. For these reasons, Social Security faces a shortfall in about 2036.
Without any change, Social Security would only have enough revenue to pay about 75-78% of promised benefits in 2036. The short-fall is about 22-25%.
So the system is not “totally broke” or “running out of money”. When people say the system is “totally broke” they are incorrect.
However, many agree that although there is no immediate crisis, the longer we delay putting the program into long-term financial balance, the more drastic the changes that will have to be made in the future.

So what are the current reform proposals currently on the table?
Current reform proposal options run the gamut from simply tweaking proposals to change revenues and benefits to more dramatic changes of partially privatizing the system into individually invested private accounts.

The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform plan calls for:

changing the benefit formula to slow the growth of benefits for many workers,
an increase in the retirement age to 68 by 2050,
an increase in the payroll tax on upper income Americans,
a cut in the annual cost of living increases for Social Security benefits,
a resulting reduction in the monthly benefits for most beneficiaries, and
a requirement that newly hired state and local government employees be required to pay Social Security taxes.

Other reform options

There are others who support a mix of options including tax increases and benefit cuts to put the system on sounder financial footing.

Social Security payroll taxes apply to a worker’s earnings only up to a cap—$106,800 in 2011. Others suggest raising the cap so that the payroll tax is applied to 90% of all earnings as was intended when the program was started.
Another option is to raise the payroll tax on everyone. A tax increase of about 1% on employees and 1% on employers would eliminate the shortfall.
Partial privatization would allow workers to divert a portion of the current payroll taxes into accounts invested in the stock market. The guaranteed benefit under Social Security would be reduced and workers would rely on their accounts to make up the difference.
Extend coverage to new workers in state plans.

Only time will tell how the shortfalls of Social Security will be strengthened. However, it’s important to keep in mind that this is a program that currently provides benefits to over 54 million Americans today. Social Security is the nation’s single most successful social program. Making sure that it continues to provide a foundation of retirement security to American workers should guide any future reform.

Sources:

“The 2010 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds.” The Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds. Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means. 9 August 2010. <http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2010/tr2010.pdf>.

The Moment of Truth. Washington, D.C.: The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, 2010.

Expand Social Security, Don't Cut It

2011-05-23T12:05:00.000-04:00

Authored by Nancy Altman , Co-Director, Social Security Works

Social Security has transformed the nation, eradicating what once was a primary anxiety of the vast majority of workers -- the terror of growing old.   A writer in 1912 described the attitude people had about growing old:

“After the age of sixty has been reached, the transition from non-dependence to dependence is an easy stage – property gone, friends passed away or removed, relatives become few, ambition collapsed, only a few short years left to live, with death a final and welcome end to it all – such conclusions inevitably sweep the wage-earners from the class of hopeful independent citizens into that of the helpless poor.”
Before the enactment of Social Security, people worked as long as they could hold jobs.   But this was an insecure state of affairs.   The fast pace of many jobs “wears out its workers with great rapidity,” a commentator noted in 1912. “The young, the vigorous, the adaptable, the supple of limb, the alert of mind, are in demand,” he explained, adding, “Middle age is old age.”

Once a job was lost, an older worker could seldom find a new one. Older people almost never had sufficient savings to last until death. Indeed, though individual savings accounts are in vogue these days, their shortcomings have been shown time and again. What is needed in the event of lost wages as the result of old age, disability or death is insurance, not individual savings.

Older people invariably were forced to move in with their children. Those who had no children or whose children were unable or unwilling to support them typically wound up in the poorhouse. The poorhouse was not some ancient Dickensian invention; it was an all-too-real means of subsistence for the elderly in the world immediately preceding Social Security. The vast majority of the residents were elderly. Most of the “inmates,” as they were often labeled, entered the poorhouse late in life, having been independent wage earners until that point.
Destitute senior citizens were a fact of life before the enactment of Social Security. Studies at the time found that nearly half of all those 65 or over had incomes below the subsistence level, even well before the Great Depression. In contrast, the poverty rate among the elderly today is around 10 percent. The reduction in the poverty rate of the elderly is directly due to Social Security. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities has found a strikingly similar percentage of seniors today have incomes below the poverty level, when Social Security is disregarded.

Social Security is the difference. About one-third of older Americans receive 90 percent or more of their income from Social Security, and a full two-thirds receive half or more of their income from Social Security.   The benefits are particularly important to women and minorities.   Social Security provided 90 percent or more of the income of almost half of all unmarried (including widowed) women aged 65 or over, in 2008.and for more than half of unmarried (including widowed) male and female African-Americans aged 65 or over.

Furthermore, Social Security is much more than a program for the elderly.   It also provides extremely important life insurance and disability insurance protection for workers and their families. In that way, it has also transformed the world with respect to workers who become disabled or who die leaving spouses and dependent children.

Nearly nine percent of the nation’s children either receive Social Security themselves or live in families where part of the household income is from Social Security. It is of particular importance to children in low-income and in minority families. It is the nation’s largest disability program.   It provides half or more of the income to 70 percent of those with disabilities. Without that monthly check, 55 percent of disabled workers and their families would live in poverty.

Despite its importance and its efficiency – it returns in benefits more than 99 cents of every dollar spent – too many policymakers are proposing to scale it back and increase its retirement age. They fail to realize that future workers and their families will need its protections even more, given the termination of traditional private sector pensions and the failure of private accounts to do the job.

The current focus on budget deficits has provided an excuse for proposed cutbacks in Social Security, despite the fact that by law Social Security does not add a penny to the deficit nor the federal debt. Indeed, dispassionate policy analysis calls out for increasing Social Security’s benefits. Its proven track record, widespread support, efficient administration, and clear superiority over private sector counterparts makes increasing Social Security the best way to go, if our goal is to improve the economic security of the nation’s workers and their families. Let’s hope that sometime in the not-to-distant future our elected officials will recognize that increasing Social Security would not only be overwhelmingly popular but also the best possible policy, for women, families, those of low-income, younger Americans, and every other demographic one can imagine.

Portions of this blog post were excerpted from Nancy Altman’s book, The Battle for Social Security.

A Real Mother's Day Celebration

2011-05-06T14:45:00.000-04:00

This Mother’s Day many of us will find ourselves celebrating with the important women in our lives in lots of fun ways. Maybe we will be dining at a lovely restaurant or relaxing in a spa. Perhaps we will take a weekend vacation, staying in a hotel. Or maybe we will be visiting our mothers or grandmothers in a long-term care facility, bringing them fresh spring flowers. Certainly there are lots of wonderful ways to celebrate Mother’s Day, yet almost all of these ways are dependent on the work of other mothers. Indeed there are many mothers who will not be able to celebrate that day. These mothers will be at work on Sunday making sure our meals arrive on time for brunch; ensuring our hotel rooms are clean, watching our children so we can have a ‘quiet’ dinner; and bathing our grandmothers at their care facility.

Whether they are hotel housekeepers, childcare workers, or home health aides, these women share a very precarious employment situation. These women are often not earning wages that provide economic security. The jobs they perform are often characterized by hourly shift work and nonstandard hours (as defined as hours that deviate from the 8-4pm time schedule). This includes nights, weekends, evenings, and rotating shifts. As a result when these mothers have to take time out of work to deal with an unexpected family emergency, they risk losing their jobs and most likely lose pay. And as they age, they become our grandmothers who have not been able to earn enough to retire, and instead move into an even deeper poverty. The great irony is that many of the women who work in jobs that care for others often find themselves without the workplace flexibility and benefits to care for themselves and families. They are caught in a cycle of low pay and resources, along with little control over their work lives, putting them in impossible position of having to choose between economically supporting their families and caring for them. No mother should have to make that choice, yet millions are forced to every day.

The care and service work that women perform both in the family and workplace, needs to be valued. And it needs to be valued in real ways---wages that allow for economic security, opportunities for workplace flexibility, paid family leave and sick time, safe workplaces, safe and affordable childcare, health care, and income education, and social supports. So on Mother’s Day let’s make a commitment to make this vision a reality for women who are caring for all of us. It is time that we as a nation began to care for them.

Mary Gatta, Ph. D.
Senior Scholar
Wider Opportunities for Women

Launch of the Washington Elder Economic Security Initiative

2011-05-03T12:22:00.001-04:00

Wider Opportunities for Women's Elder Economic Security Initiative has officially launched in 13 states, the latest of which is Washington. Watch the presentation to learn more about the Initiative and the Washington Elder Index, which measures on a county-by-county level what it costs for seniors to make ends meet in retirement.

NASI Discusses New Ways to Measure an Elder’s Cost-of-Living

2011-05-02T12:57:00.000-04:00

Last week, I attended a briefing on Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), which has remained stagnant for the past two years. The National Academy on Social Insurance (NASI) hosted the briefing and released a new fact sheet which explains the COLA’s current purpose and presented on updating it to better reflect the cost-of-living for Social Security beneficiaries.

Currently Social Security benefits are adjusted each year through the Consumer Price Index for Workers (CPI-W). As NASI points out, however, the living costs for seniors are rising at a faster rate than other households, primarily because they use more medical care, the cost of which is rapidly increasing. Medicare eligible elders in good health spend a significant amount of their budget on out-of-pocket health care expenses. According to WOW’s Elder Index, a single elder in good health spends $254 a month on health care, which represents 15% of overall expenses. For those with long-term care needs, their monthly expenses can double or even triple, depending on the level of care needed. It has been proposed to use the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E), instead, to make adjustments to Social Security benefits. The CPI-E weights health care expenses more than the CPI-W to better reflect an elder’s costs. WOW is supportive of efforts to improve the COLA for Social Security beneficiaries and recommends re-visiting the methodology and data collection for the experimental CPI-E prior to applying it as an adjustment to Social Security benefits.

The COLA freeze is hurting vulnerable seniors’ ability to make ends meet. The COLA should assist seniors in meeting the rising costs of necessities like food and health care. Something must be done to ensure seniors do not have to make tough choices in regards to their basic needs – a more accurate measure of the true costs of living and adjustment to the COLA are steps in the right direction.

Alisha Howell

Communications & Program Coordinator

Elder Economic Security Initiative

New Jersey Summit Breaks Down Silos

2011-04-22T15:55:00.000-04:00

The New Jersey Foundation for Aging, in partnership with the National Council on Aging (NCOA), held an Elder Economic Summit last week. The goal of the summit was to break down silos among groups working on behalf of the economic security of elders.

The cost of living in New Jersey is among the highest in the nation. According to WOW’s Elder Index, it costs a single renter in New Jersey $24,452 to make ends meet each year. It costs even more for a senior with a mortgage – $34,947 – to meet basic needs and about 1 in 5 seniors in New Jersey is still paying off a mortgage.

Many people are not saving enough for retirement; in fact, 1 in 4 people rely on Social Security for 90% of their income. The average Social Security payment for a woman in New Jersey is $12,741, providing only 36% to 52% of what she needs to make ends meet (depending on whether she is a renter, homeowner or has a mortgage). It is clear that many seniors need services to help close this large gap.

In addition to already stretched budgets, seniors are unfortunately often the target of financial predators. The summit brought together credit and debt counseling and money management programs to illustrate the importance of collaboration amongst all service providers and how working together benefits the entire financial picture for seniors.

The leadership of the New Jersey Foundation on Aging and the outcomes of this summit will help unite service providers throughout the state to ultimately strengthen the economic security of elders.

Sadly, Equal Pay is Still an Issue

2011-04-12T09:52:00.000-04:00

Today is Equal Pay Day. I started my day at the American Planning Association’s national conference in Boston, where I joined colleagues to talk about the gender pay gap. Of course, women have certainly made significant progress over the decades in terms of occupational access and educational attainment, yet these advances have not resulted in full equity in the labor market. Instead one of the most significant markers of labor market success---equal pay---remains an elusive goal for women. On average the pay gap stands at around 79 percent. And this is not a one-time financial loss. The pay gap leads to a lifetime of income and wealth loss. The cumulative impacts of the pay gap reduce women’s benefits from Social Security and other pension plans and their ability to save for retirement, housing, college educations, etc. The lost earnings are staggering- -according to the 2008 report of the American Association of University Women, over a 35 year working life, women can lose $210,000 simply because of gender.

While increased levels of education and training help women earn more income, it does not eliminate the gender pay gap. In fact the pay gap not only continues to persist at all education levels, it is actually more pronounced at higher educational levels. The gender pay gap is actually larger for women with college and graduate degrees than for women with less education (as compared to comparable men). Such findings are particularly troubling, as they cast doubt on the idea that if women would simply invest in their education, and gain the human capital credentials, the pay gap would disappear.

Eradicating the pay gap is truly a matter of fairness and economic survival for women. Women’s labor force participation has reached the 50 percent mark and substantial numbers of them are integral contributors to their family’s economic security. In two-earner families the wife, on average contributes a third of the family income. In addition, 76 percent of single mothers are in the labor force and these women, raising their children on their own, are their family’s only earner. Women’s incomes are critical to their families’ economic well-being and equity in pay is a direct way that can help to decrease the number of women and children living in poverty.

As I left my presentation this morning I could not help but remember that one of my very first publications in graduate school back in 1990’s, was a book chapter, written with one of my mentors, Patricia Roos, on the pay gap. And as I headed out into the streets of Boston after my talk, I realized that our paper is as relevant today as when we wrote it. And then an even more disturbing thought crossed my mind. Unless we make Equal Pay a priority and a reality, there will, unfortunately, be many more Equal Pay Days to come.

Mary Gatta, Ph. D.
Senior Scholar
Wider Opportunities for Women

WOW Holds National Partners Summit, Releases US BEST Report

2011-04-08T17:13:00.001-04:00

Last week, Wider Opportunities Women (WOW) was pleased to host our Elder Economic Security Initiative state partners for our National Partner Summit here in Washington, DC. WOW’s Family Economic Security program partners also participated in the Summit, which includes those organizations involved in our GREEN Institute, Basic Economic Security Tables (BEST) and Self-Sufficiency Standard work. The event featured speakers from many different sectors, including administration officials, foundations and think tank organizations. Our state partners also spent an afternoon on Capitol Hill speaking to their senators’ offices on the importance of programs and services up for cuts in the federal budget debate.

WOW also released at the event our newest measure – the Basic Economic Security Tables (BEST) for the United States,which is the first ever measure of economic security that takes into account what American workers need to save for retirement. Our new measure received a host of media attention over the past week and we invite you to check it out at www.wowonline.org/usbest.

Why CLASS? It’s a Matter of Luck and Long-Term Care.

2011-03-18T14:57:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee hosted a hearing on the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program, a voluntary long-term care insurance program designed to help today's workers afford home and community-based long-term care. St. Patrick's Day seems a fitting time for such a hearing given that much of long-term care comes down to luck for Americans and their families.

The luckiest among us will never suffer a catastrophic health event or accident that leads one to need assistance, with grocery shopping, transportation, bathing, toileting or the like, to stay at home. The luckiest will not manage multiple health conditions in old age causing limited mobility and access to the community. Those less lucky may have some long-term care needs, but will have the resources needed to cover the cost of that care and will access what's available through the private market. WOW's Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index (Elder Index) measures what it costs to afford such services, ranging from 6 to 36 hours of home-based services per week in a given state. For instance, in Minnesota, the Elder Index demonstrates that home and community-based long-term care costs from $7,000 to $46,000 per year depending on the level of care required.

Perhaps Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) described it best when, at today's hearing, he said that CLASS would "serve a terrifying unmet need..." Today, 10 million Americans need long-term care services and supports, with 15 million expected to need care by the year 2020. The reality is that most of today's workers and families cannot afford the staggering cost of long-term care. The CLASS program was designed to buffer these costs through a voluntary payroll tax - one that will require no use of federal tax dollars. Further, the CLASS benefit is projected to reduce the federal deficit by $86 billion over the next ten years and save federal and state Medicaid costs.

We need to keep CLASS, both to address the growing long-term care crisis and as a matter of cost savings. More importantly, we need to ensure workers and employers are educated on the program and take advantage of this innovative option. More enrollees will help the program remain affordable for working Americans and fiscally strong over the long term. Ensuring access to affordable long-term care is fundamental to building economic security for persons with disabilities and elders.

Sadly, we will not all be among the luckiest, and so we all have a stake in safeguarding CLASS.

For more on the CLASS program, visit Advance CLASS.

Because We're Stronger Together

2011-03-11T13:51:00.000-05:00

Last week, I attended a briefing hosted by Generations United (GU) and co-sponsored by WOW on why Social Security is a crucial program for Americans of all ages. Since it is generally referred to as a program for retirees, its purpose of building economic security for other groups, such as children and widows, is sometimes overlooked. However, according to GU, cuts to Social Security would harm 6.5 million children.

What made the briefing so powerful were the personal stories shared by Social Security beneficiaries. Rep. Jan Schakowky (D-IL) shared how Social Security helped her son and his family get by after her daughter-in-law passed away. Morrisella Middleton, now a grandmother, discussed how Social Security was there for her mother decades ago when her father suddenly passed away. Furthermore, Social Security continues to be there for Morisella now as she raises two grandchildren on her own, since her daughter is no longer alive. I encourage you to check out GU’s report, “Social Security: What’s at Stake for Children, Youth, and Grandfamilies.” The report features the stories of both these women and numerous other Americans.

The fight to strengthen Social Security is more than just an elder advocate fight. Though the majority of beneficiaries are retirees, to solely focus on this group would forego the important opportunity of a intergenerational effort for adequate Social Security benefits that allow so many to make ends meet. A united front is hard to ignore – because, in fact, we are stronger together.

Alisha Howell

Communications & Program Coordinator

Elder Economic Security Initiative

Valuable Employment Service for Seniors Under Attack

2011-03-04T15:20:00.005-05:00

What would you do if you couldn’t make ends meet in retirement? Like many Americans, you’d probably return to the workforce. But what if you needed help finding a job? Where would you turn? Thankfully, the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) is there to help seniors in need by providing valuable training to help them gain employment.

As we know from the Elder Index, it takes about $20,326 for an elder renter to make ends meet in retirement. If a senior cannot make ends meet, he or she may choose to go back to work if they are able. SCSEP helps low-income seniors by providing immediate employment. The participants earn minimum wage while providing much needed services in their communities.

Unfortunately, like many public assistance programs, SCSEP is under attack in the federal budget debate.

Although it has historically enjoyed strong bipartisan support, the House budget reduces SCSEP funding from $825 million to $300 million. This creates a crisis for tens of thousands of seniors, many of whom are in their 70s, 80s and 90s. As shown by a recent survey of SCSEP participants done by Experience Works, participants rely on SCSEP to make ends meet:

Nearly half (46%) of SCSEP participants say they sometimes have to choose between paying rent, purchasing food or purchasing medications.
Half (50 %) need to keep working so they don’t lose their homes or apartments.
43 % are looking for work now because they were laid off from their previous positions.
64 % have been looking for work one year or longer.

Help stop cuts to valuable programs for low-income seniors and their families. Send a letter to your representatives today to voice your concern for the federal budget cuts. We must show Congress how much these programs and services help low and middle-income families make ends meet.

Maggie Flowers

Field Manager

Elder Economic Security Initiative

An Advocate’s View: How Budget Cuts to Domestic Programs Hurt an Elder’s Economic Security

2011-02-25T16:24:00.002-05:00

Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking to Christopher Smith, a volunteer attorney at the Wayne County Neighborhood Legal Services in Detroit, Michigan. Christopher works to ensure elders are enrolled in programs and services that help them build economic security. However, those programs and services are now being threatened by budget cuts proposed in the House bill passed last Saturday. One of these crucial programs is the Low-income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) which provides funds for those struggling to pay their bills to heat their homes during the winter and cool their homes in the summer.

The House passed a bill on Saturday that would cut LIHEAP funding by 66% for the remainder of the fiscal year. Christopher cautioned that less funding would result in people making impossible choices on whether to eat or heat, and also lead desperate Detroit residents to try dangerous and unconventional ways to heat their homes such as starting a fire that could get out of control. In fact, he shared that this happened a couple times already in the last few weeks. “Realistically, a LIHEAP subsidy costs far less than dispatching the fire department,” he said.

As the Senate gears up next week to debate the federal budget, Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) urges you to join advocates across the country in sending a letter to Congress on the importance of crucial programs and services to millions of American families and elders as they rebuild from one of the worst economic recession's of our time.

Now is the time to take action. We encourage you to send your letter today, and include your story of how cuts will affect your community. We must show Congress how much these programs and services help low and middle-income families make ends meet.

Alisha Howell

Communications & Program Coordinator

Elder Economic Security Initiative

WOW Offers Encore Webinar on Effective Advocacy in an Economic Downturn

2011-02-11T17:48:00.000-05:00

This week, WOW hosted the first of two webinars focused on advocating effectively in tough budget times. Our panelists discussed proposed federal budget cuts by the Administration and Congress and effective ways to communicate with legislators to avoid cuts to services and programs that mean the most to you and your constituents. Due to popular response, we are hosting an encore webinar next Thursday, February 17 at 3 p.m. ET. Register today as there are limited spots available.

We also wanted to take the time to remind you of our social media accounts and introduce our newest platform, Tumblr. The Elder Initiative is now using Tumblr for our online advocacy purposes in addition to Facebook and Twitter.

Check out the Elder Initiative’s Tumblr page @ wowonline.tumblr.com/

Become a WOW Facebook Fan

Follow WOW on Twitter @WOWOnlineWOW

Alisha Howell
Communications & Program Coordinator

We Need to Measure Economic Security, Not Poverty

2011-02-04T16:28:00.000-05:00

The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), an alternative calculation of the federal poverty level recently developed by the US Census Bureau, estimates that 16% of seniors live in poverty. Although the new measure incorporates other costs, such as out-of-pocket medical expenses, it is still a measure that looks at economic deprivation, rather than economic security – the true cost of being able to make ends meet, and for elders, to age in place with dignity.

The SPM is a step in the right direction in that it acknowledges that the current system of measuring poverty is outdated. Based on food costs alone, the current federal poverty level does not incorporate geographic variability in costs of living. As an example, most recognize that it costs more for a senior in New York City to make ends meet than for one in Charleston, West Virginia. The SPM is a more accurate than the current federal poverty level since it does include a geographic variability component.

However, the Supplemental Poverty Measure does not measure economic security: “Now is the time to move past simply measuring what it means to be deprived to what it means to be secure,” WOW’s Executive Director Joan Kuriansky stated. This requires a more comprehensive measure.

Wider Opportunities for Women uses the Elder Index to look at specific costs for elders: housing, transportation, food, health care costs and miscellaneous expenses. The tool is used at the local level to look at the true costs of living and what it takes elders to be economically secure within their community. Furthermore, it can serve as a planning tool to help future retirees gauge what is needed to age in place in their community of choice.

Your Health is in Your Hands

2011-02-01T11:53:00.005-05:00

Last week, I attended a briefing co-sponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform and AARP entitled “Boomers Come of Age: Covering Early Retirees and Other 50-64 Year-olds. The briefing stressed the importance of planning for economic security in retirement. AARP’s John Rother noted that adults ages 47-65 are lacking economic security due to the loss of jobs and health insurance coverage. If this is the challenge for Americans in their 50s and 60s, then how much more of a challenge will this be for Americans over 65?

As we know from the Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index (Elder Index), health care costs significantly affect an elder’s overall budget. The Elder Index demonstrates that health care expenses, despite access to Medicare and with or without additional long-term care needs, can be significant. As shown below, these costs can be overly burdensome for elders living on a fixed income, such as those living on Social Security payments alone. In many cases, elders go without supplemental coverage to Medicare, and thus without vital health care services, due to the high cost of premiums and co-pays according to WOW’s Economic Security & Health Care Reform Resource Guide.

Casey Lovoy

Elder Economic Security Initiative Intern

Economic Progress?

2011-01-28T10:38:00.003-05:00

Our Michigan partner, Elder Law of Michigan, discusses their priorities in the new year and the importance of programs and services in their state to an elder's ability to age in place.

A new year means new political leaders here in Michigan and new challenges and opportunities in carrying forth the elder economic security agenda at the state and community levels. Michigan’s state of the state address outlined the various challenges our state must work through to get back on track and strengthen our state economy. During these times, however, we must remember the plight of our seniors and not leave them behind as we strive for overall economic progress.

As the lead state partner for the Michigan Elder Economic Security Initiative we aim to educate policy makers on the true cost of retiring in our state. In Michigan, a single elder renter needs $19,058 a year to make ends meet. Let’s not forget seniors received no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to their Social Security benefits this year, nor an emergency payment to supplement the COLA freeze. Despite this, the costs of food, gasoline and other basic goods continue to rise.

This adds to the increased necessity of funding state programs and services that help seniors age in place. Elder Law of Michigan’s priority is to provide older adults with trusted information and support with programs that aid in legal, financial and personal-security issues that enable older adults to live comfortably and independently in their homes as they age. Elder Law of Michigan strives to be the most trusted resource for adults to ensure that they are safe, informed and treated fairly.

We encourage you to join the fight for a secure retirement for all seniors in your community and across the state. For more information on how to get involved with the Michigan Elder Economic Security Initiative, e-mail kwhite@elderlawofmi.org. Though times are tough, our voices must remain united and strong. Together, we can create real change this year and improve the economic security of our elder loved ones.

Reforming Tax-Free Retirement Savings to Help Low-Income Workers

2011-01-21T17:07:00.000-05:00

This week, the Center on American Progress’ (CAP) Tax Expenditure of the Week series focused on tax-free retirement savings. Specifically, the brief noted that high earners benefit from this tax expenditure the most since they have more disposable income to put into savings. According to CAP, tax-free retirement savings are the second-largest tax expenditure yet, “Eighty percent of the tax benefits are claimed by the top twenty percent of income earners. The bottom three-fifths enjoy only seven percent of the benefit.”

To shift the balance and benefit of this tax expenditure to low-income workers, CAP discussed several ideas, including providing tax credits to workers rather than deductions. This would result in workers receiving the same dollar amount regardless of income. Consequently, this would help those in the low and middle-income brackets by providing a subsidy worth more percentage wise than that of the high earners.

As shown by WOW’s national Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index, Social Security is not enough to take care of one’s necessities in retirement. It is also more than 90% of income for 3 in 10 elders, due to a lack of savings in other areas, such as 401(k)s and pensions. Without a more progressive structure that incentivizes workers save for retirement, low and middle-income elders will increasingly depend on Social Security to meet their basic needs.

Alisha Howell

Communications and Program Coordinator

Elder Economic Security Initiative

Elder Economic Security in 2011

2011-01-14T14:33:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year! 2011 brings with it a new era for America – the official retirement of the Baby Boomer generation. This year, an average of 7,000 Boomers a day will celebrate their 65^th birthday. Now more than ever it is critical to advocate for the programs and services that allow seniors to age in place.

The Elder Economic Security Initiative (Initiative) has a host of plans to advocate on behalf of our growing senior population this year. First, we are excited to launch the Initiative in Washington and Colorado in the first half of the year. Our additional new states, Iowa, North Carolina and South Dakota, will follow thereafter. Our new state partners have already begun spreading the word about the Initiative. In fact, the Iowa Alliance for Retired Americans recently placed an op-ed about the project in the Des Moines Register.

Issue areas the Initiative is focusing on this year include the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act, Social Security and health care reform, specifically the implementation of CLASS (the long-term care insurance program) under the Affordable Care Act. Later in the spring, we will host our third annual blog day – a day-long online advocacy event aimed to engage as many people as possible about economic security.

So, stay tuned for this and much more in 2011!

Happy Holidays from WOW!

2010-12-23T14:13:00.001-05:00

The WOW office will be closed from December 27-31. We look forward to working with you in the new year!

Importance of Preparing for Long-Term Care Costs

2010-12-17T16:44:00.001-05:00

This week, the Elder Economic Security Initiative™ team met with our National Advisory Board to update them on the project and discuss goals for the New Year. Long-term care (LTC) and the importance of preparing future generations for the high costs of aging in place was a major component of the conversation, and, it turns out, in conversations throughout the country. Newsday recently featured the article “We can Avoid an Eldercare Crisis” which encourages Baby Boomers in particular to find ways to save for long-term care now before it’s too late. It also explains how to prevent future elders from depending on Medicaid, which provides benefits to low-income elders unable to pay for care. Medicaid eligibility requirements require those elders living on the edge to spend down their assets in order to qualify.

WOW’s Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index (Elder Index) shows just how important it is to plan ahead. Depending on the level of care, LTC costs can double or even triple what it costs for an elder to meet her basic expenses. For example, in Bronx County, NY, an elder woman renter in good health needs $23, 328 a year to cover basic living expenses. This cost changes dramatically if she is in poor health and needs 16 hours a week of LTC assistance (a medium level of care); her annual expenses would nearly double to over $43,500.

Hence the need for a program to help Americans save for these high costs of care and the reasoning behind the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act – signed into law under health care reform. This program will allow workers to pay in to a government supported system and after five years of investment receive a daily cash benefit to supplement long-term care costs. This program will not only benefit elders but people of all ages who need assistance due to physical disabilities. Find out more about the program’s benefits at the New Old Age blog.

The reality is that long-term care is necessary for millions of elders in retirement and though many might not want to think about getting older, we must not only think but act. Through advanced planning and good decision making future retirees can save for their long-term care needs.

Alisha Howell
Communications & Program Coordinator
Elder Economic Security Initiative

New Study Shows Half of Seniors May Experience Poverty

2010-12-10T13:44:00.001-05:00

Nearly half of all elders between 60 and 90 will experience one year of poverty, according to a study released this week in Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services.

“Of course, this risk is not evenly distributed across the population. One of the most drastic economic divides is race,” notes the researcher, Mark R. Rank, Ph.D. The percentages of people who will experience at least one year below the federal poverty level by different demographic groups include:

• Race: 32.7% of white older Americans; 64.6% of black older Americans

• Marital Status: 51.2% of unmarried older Americans; 24.9% of married older Americans

• Education: 48.4% of those with fewer than 12 years of education; 20.5% for those with 12 or more years of education

This new research confirms the importance of the Elder Economic Security Initiative and the Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index (Elder Index). A comparison of the Elder Index to other measures of income (shown in the chart below) makes its relevance clear. Average annual Social Security income provides an older woman renter with only 61% of the income required to achieve economic security, compared to 81% for an older man.

The data shown by the Elder Index and the new report on elder poverty demonstrate the need to increase the benefit adequacy for Social Security recipients and to increase access to income support programs for seniors. Dr. Rank notes “legislators should consider policies that encourage greater levels of savings among the working-age population, facilitating cooperative living arrangements among the elderly, establishing fair terms with respect to reverse mortgage programs, and strengthening the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income programs.”

The time to act is now. Join your state’s Elder Economic Security Initiative to help rid poverty among our nation’s elders. The Initiative is currently active in 17 states; find out if your state is one of them.

Maggie Flowers
Field Manager
Elder Economic Security Initiative

Caring for the Caregiver

2010-11-30T12:25:00.002-05:00

As National Family Caregivers Month comes to an end, WOW thanks caregivers across the country whose work makes it possible for millions of elders and persons with disabilities to live with dignity in their homes and communities. According to the National Alliance for Caregiving, 22 million Americans care for someone over the age of 50 and 60% of caregivers are women. Caregiving is essential to allowing many elders to age in place and the value of informal care that women provide ranges from $148 to $188 billion annually.

Informal caregiving, though necessary, can be detrimental to the economic security of women and their families. Many caregivers find themselves cycling in and out of the workforce, which limits their income both now and in the future. One-third of working women decrease their work hours when taking on caregiving responsibilities and almost 30% pass up a job promotion, training or assignment. Each of these examples explains the tough choices caregivers have to make and highlights the need for additional caregiver support systems. WOW supports allowing full-time caretakers to receive Social Security credits to increase their benefits in retirement as a step in the right direction. Currently, caretakers receive no credits when out of the workforce, which results in a smaller Social Security benefit in retirement.

Caregiving can be a daunting task and while there is more that needs to be done, current resources and networks strive to make caregiving easier for millions of Americans.

• Caregiver Community Action Network

• Top 10 Questions about Family Caregiving

• Financial Help and Advice for Caregivers

Take time today to thank a caregiver you know for all they do.

Alisha Howell
Communications & Program Coordinator
Elder Economic Security Initiative

Dispelling the Wage Gap Myths – Paycheck Fairness Is Not a Woman-Only Issue

2010-11-19T10:26:00.002-05:00

It is disappointing that the Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA) failed to pass a procedural vote this week to end the filibuster and bring it to the floor, 58-41 (60 votes were needed). Almost as disappointing are the arguments that we don’t need laws like these anymore or that the PFA would hurt men or that the wage gap doesn’t even exist anymore.

The Paycheck Fairness Act was not a law that tried to pit men against women or give women special treatment. Among its provisions, the PFA would have put gender discrimination on equal footing with other forms of discrimination such as race, disability or age by allowing women to sue for damages and back pay. It also would have stopped employers from retaliating against employees who share salary information with their coworkers.

It’s hard to believe that we are still having a conversation about the wage gap when countless studies show that it exists and that it affects women across their lifespan. The Institute of Women’s Policy Research found that the wage gap will cost women $400,000 to $2 million over a lifetime in lost wages. The gap also follows women after they leave the workforce, since lower wages translate to less opportunity to save for a secure retirement and lower Social Security monthly benefits.

Women still make 77 cents on the dollar for what men make. However, there are those who argue that women “choose” this gap because they tend to enter lower paying fields. One might think that makes sense, but when you look at nursing, where women hold 9 out of 10 of positions, you see that is not the case. In fact, female nurses actually earn 88% of what male nurses earn.

Others argue that women do not attain as much education as men to account for the wage gap, so it is only fair that they don’t make as much as men. By their argument, women should clearly make the same amount as men with equal education and in the same field; however, this argument does not hold water when you examine the facts. For example, women make up half of all law school graduates, but are less than one quarter of law firm partners and a recent study found that even the highest-ranking female lawyers are paid an average of $66,000 less per year than their male colleagues.

Still others argue that women leave the workforce for caregiving responsibilities (for either children or older adult family members), so they shouldn’t be paid as much. Pesky statistics get in the way again. Women who graduate from top ranked business schools will start out making $4,600 less per year than their male counterparts in their first job out of school and the American Association of University Women’s research shows that the wage gap begins within the first year out of college.

It’s time to move forward on this issue together and move past old, persistent myths. Many women are heads of households. Equal pay is good for women, good for families and good for men. Men and women should advocate for closing the wage gap to build the economic security of Americans both now and in the future.

Kelly Stellrecht
Field and Program Associate
Elder Economic Security Initiative

Fiscal Commission's Initial Recommendations Threaten Elder Economic Security

2010-11-11T16:58:00.002-05:00

Recommendations released yesterday by the co-chairs of the President’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform do not represent the wants or needs of the American people.

The co-chairs of the bi-partisan fiscal commission have issued recommendations that fall hard on middle- class Americans, especially elders. A formula change in calculating Social Security benefits would reduce benefits for one in two Social Security beneficiaries. Also recommended is yet another rise of the retirement age (except for an unspecified “hardship exception” for those unable to work after age 62). Under the proposed plan, the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) would be reduced to account for a “substitution” effect, such as substituting pork for beef. Furthermore, the changes proposed to our nation’s most successful social program would hurt the economic security of future retirees by cutting retirement benefits for young people just entering the workforce by more than 35%.

Though the proposal does mention increasing the cap on wages subject to the Social Security tax to increase revenue, overall the report relies more heavily on reducing spending than on raising revenues through tax reform. Programs like Meals on Wheels and Low-Income Home Energy Assistance would be subject to annual across-the-board cuts if discretionary programs as a whole were not reduced to meet annual caps.

From our recent opinion research conducted by Lake Research Partners as part of WOW’s Building Bridges to Economic Security Campaign, we found that Americans of all ages and political affiliations support programs, like Meals on Wheels, that help vulnerable populations stay afloat. In fact, 93% favored the maintenance of this crucial program. A secure retirement topped the list of all the things Americans wished they could save for – with almost 4 in 10 wanting to do so – and many voiced concerns about potential cuts to Social Security as adding to the uncertainty of their family’s ability to be economically secure.

Though the full report will not be released until December 1, these initial recommendations as a whole do not bode well for the economic security of current and future retirees absent an outcry from the public. WOW urges the Commission and Congress moving forward to propose ways to build, not diminish, the economic security of Americans across the generations.

Susan Rees
Director of National Policy & Projects

Alisha Howell
Communications & Program Coordinator
Elder Economic Security Initiative

No COLA = Big Problem; Advocate for the $250 One-Time Emergency Payment for Seniors

2010-11-05T17:49:00.002-04:00

The federal government announced in October that Social Security beneficiaries will not receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) …again. It is now the second consecutive year the government placed a freeze on the COLA during the recession, when people especially need additional income to pay for basic and rising expenses. To curtail the negative effect of the COLA freeze last year, Congress passed a $250 emergency one-time payment for all Social Security beneficiaries as part of the Recovery Act; however, they have yet to do so this time around. The emergency payment not only assisted seniors in making ends meet but also bolstered the economy when spent.

Not having a COLA presents an array of problems for seniors struggling to be economically secure in this economy, including forcing them to make tough choices on basic needs. As long as the COLA is nonexistent, some form of payment is necessary to supplement the income of beneficiaries. We know that Social Security alone is not enough to get by, as demonstrated by WOW’s Elder Index. For a woman renter living on the average Social Security payment of $12,626 year, it provides just 61% of what she needs to be economically secure.

The House is scheduled to vote on legislation that will provide much needed assistance to senior Social Security beneficiaries and other vulnerable groups. The Seniors Protection Act of 2010 (H.R. 5987) provides seniors with a one-time emergency payment of $250 in 2011. Check out WOW’s newest resource – our e-newsletter on the $250 one-time payment for more information. And be sure to contact your members of Congress and urge them to support the one-time payment!

Alisha Howell
Communications & Program Coordinator
Elder Economic Security Initiative

The [Caregiver’s] Gender Gap

2010-10-29T17:25:00.000-04:00

The wage disparity between men and women continues to affect the economic security of working women. Another gender gap, however, is the caregiver gap. According to the Family Caregiver Alliance, 59-75% of caregivers are women. The caregiver gap contributes to lower earning potential, disproportionately affecting women, because many have to take time off work or digress from full-time work to part-time to make time for caregiving. This trend is then reflected in retirement through lower Social Security benefits and fewer retirement savings.

The Alzheimer’s Association conducted a “Women and Alzheimer’s” poll as part of its A Woman’s Nation Takes on Alzheimer’s report and found that among workers who care for someone with Alzheimer’s disease, 21% of female caregivers and 18% of male caregivers had to take time off from work. In addition, 14% of female caregivers and 11% of male caregivers went from full-time to part-time work and 10% of female caregivers and 3% of male caregivers retired early because of their responsibilities. These caregiving decisions affect a caregiver’s lifelong economic security.

The poll also found that a majority (64%) of workers who care for someone with Alzheimer’s needed to arrive to work late, leave early or take time in the day from work. However, men were more likely than women (70% vs. 61%) to go in to work late or leave early because men are more likely to be in fields with more flexible schedules, or are more likely to ask for flexibility.

It is essential to advocate for job flexibility and expand workplace protections to assist caregivers and families. For those caregivers who decide to take time off from work, the Social Security Caregiver Credit Act (H.R. 769) can help by implementing a formula to credit caregiving for up to five years so that individuals are not penalized for leaving the workforce by a reduction in Social Security benefits. Another part of the solution is expanding the Child Care Tax credit to include a Caregiver Tax Credit that will assist caregivers in building economic security for themselves and their families.

Supporting the needs of caregivers is essential to promoting elder economic security; there cannot be one without the other.

Kelly Stellrecht
Field and Program Associate
Elder Economic Security Initiative

Bringing the Initiative to Washington State!

2010-10-28T11:01:00.001-04:00

I recently returned from the Seattle area where I met many dedicated advocates working to help elders achieve economic security across the state. Their work is important as more than one in five seniors in Washington state relies on Social Security as their only source of income, amounting to an average income of $12,978/year for women and $17,313/year for men. Additionally, 8.4% of elders are living below the federal poverty level of $10,830 a year for an individual. To address the needs of this population, the advocates I met are gearing up to launch the Elder Economic Security Initiative (Initiative) in Washington.

The Washington Association of Area Agencies on Aging (W4A), who is our lead partner in the state, hosted a meeting for their partners to discuss the Initiative and how it will increase their capacity to advocate for seniors. The event provided a great opportunity to introduce the framework and tools behind the Initiative, including the Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index (Elder Index), and began preliminary discussions on policy priorities to promote elder economic security in Washington. Also at the meeting, the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston presented draft Elder Index data to the W4A and its stakeholders showing what it really costs to retire in three counties in the state.

Despite facing state budget cuts that are sure to affect services for elders in Washington, the Initiative is brimming with ideas of how to educate the public and push for public policies that help seniors achieve economic security. Over the next few months, they will develop a robust policy agenda to accompany the Elder Index for Washington.

Find out more about the Washington Initiative and get involved if you live in the state!

Maggie Flowers
Field Manager
Elder Economic Security Initiative @ WOW

WOW Releases New Measure of Economic Security

2010-10-22T12:04:00.002-04:00

Last week, Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) released its newest measure of economic security, the Basic Economic Security Tables for the DC Metro Area (DC BEST) . WOW is pleased to have been featured in multiple media outlets over the past week, including the Sunday edition of the Washington Post.

The DC BEST calculates the monthly income a family needs to be economically secure. Provided in the full report are data for over 400 family types, distinguishing between two-parent and one-parent households and ages of children. The full report also found that about half of DC residents have not attained economic security.

Building on WOW’s Self-Sufficiency Standard and Elder Index, the DC BEST includes a savings component for emergency and retirement savings, showing families what it takes to save for the future. The data also shows Fairfax County as the most expensive place to live in the DC area, costing a family of four (two parents, one preschool-age child and one school-age child) over $100,000 a year to make ends meet.

Working will allied partners, WOW will use the DC BEST to advocate for those in the District and beyond. Accompanying the data is a policy brief outlining WOW’s recommendations to the incoming administration for building economic security for all DC residents. We will use the data to advocate for a number of issues, including the creation of good jobs, increased childcare assistance and financial literacy education about saving for emergencies and retirement.

We encourage you to view the full report, which includes data for DC and its surrounding jurisdictions including Alexandria City, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Montgomery County and Prince George’s County and executive summary of the policy brief for more information .You can also contact WOW’s DC Family Economic Security Program Team: Sara Bocinski (sbocinski@wowonline.org) and Delese Harvey (dharvey@wowonline.org).

Alisha Howell
Communications & Program Coordinator
Elder Economic Security Initiative

Senators Put White House on Notice: Cuts to Social Security Won’t Work

2010-10-15T14:06:00.002-04:00

Last week, eleven senators drafted a resolution in opposition to privatizing Social Security and raising the retirement age. It baffles me that just eleven senators signed on to this resolution considering Social Security’s role in building economic security for not only seniors, but children, widows and people with disabilities. Perhaps other senators are unaware that Social Security is 90% or more of the income in retirement for 3 in 10 seniors and that without it more than half would live below the federal poverty level.

Furthermore, at a Senate hearing on why the President’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform should not look at Social Security to solve the nation’s federal deficit, Sen. Sanders (I-VT), who signed the resolution, acknowledged that Social Security has not contributed to the deficit. So, why would the Commission look to it to solve the deficit problem? Perhaps because it is currently running a huge surplus; but let’s remember this surplus is allocated to the people and families who have paid into the program and is not to be used to close the government’s deficit.

WOW just wrapped up five day-long regional meetings across the country as part of our Building Bridges to Economic Security Campaign. We met with over 130 organizations, many of which participated in our policy sessions on Social Security. Whether we were in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, or in between, one theme resonated across the country: Social Security must be strengthened for future generations. We already know from WOW’s Elder Index that living on Social Security alone is not enough to meet a senior’s basic needs – so benefit cuts would only exacerbate this issue.

WOW applauds the senators who support this resolution because each recognizes that strengthening Social Security is not about making older workers stay in the workforce to make ends meet or assigning workers private savings accounts that can waiver in a volatile stock market. Strengthening Social Security is about keeping the promise to our current and future retirees that Social Security will be there for them as a dependable source of income in retirement.

Alisha Howell
Communications & Program Coordinator
Elder Economic Security Initiative

Wake Up Washington: Older Women and Economic Security

2010-09-30T01:08:00.002-04:00

Imagine living your whole life working just to pay the bills – not saving for your future, but simply paying for the present. You work as much as you can, but also decide to have a family and need to take time off work. Before you know it, you are 65 and it is time to retire. This would be an exciting time in your life, except you don’t have any savings. Thankfully, you have Social Security. You start receiving your benefits, but then you realize it’s not enough to get by. Now what do you do?

Some of you might not have to imagine this scenario; you’re living it or know someone who is. The fact is that women across the country who take time out of the workforce to raise children or care for an elder relative receive fewer wages in the long run and, therefore, less Social Security benefits in retirement. The sacrifices women make truly shape their retirement security. According to WOW’s Elder Index, the average Social Security benefit for women is $12,526 compared with $16,572 for men.

Wake Up Washington! Women are struggling to make ends meet in retirement and should not be penalized for taking care of their families. The Social Security Caregiver Credit Act (H.R. 769) is a step in the right direction. The Act would give full-time caregivers Social Security credits for up to five years out of the workforce. Passing the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 1338) also is a step in the right direction to ensure women receive equal pay for equal work.

It’s time for action, let’s get to work and make sure that women get equal pay and, therefore, an equal retirement!

Alisha Howell
Communications & Program Coordinator
Elder Economic Security Initiative

Celebrating our Grandparents

2010-09-23T10:53:00.000-04:00

Last Monday, the White House held a briefing in honor of Grandparents Day. Members of the Administration discussed the status of programs, policies and services that help grandparents and seniors age in place with dignity, including provisions under the Affordable Care Act and the Senior Community Services Employment Program (SCSEP). Administration officials stressed the need of dissemination information about these programs to counter public misinformation. Read the President’s official proclamation.

Grandparents are an important part of our lives and an important part of society. It is great to see the Administration’s recognition of our elders and WOW continues to advocate on behalf of all elders particularly through our recommendation for the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act (OAA), including the establishment of an economic security framework in the legislation. If you have ideas on how the OAA can be improved, please send them our way.

Do you or your grandparents have a story to share about making ends meet? If so, WOW encourages you to share your personal stories with us and Retirement USA – a coalition advocating for a secure and adequate retirement system to make it possible for more grandparents and seniors to be economically secure in retirement. Retirement USA’s “Wake Up Washington” month-long campaign continues until October 15th. Email WOW at ahowell@wowonline.org to share your story!

Anti-poverty programs help bridge the gap to economic security

2010-09-03T15:53:00.000-04:00

The economic downturn continues to have lasting effects on millions of Americans. According to an article in USA Today, anti-poverty programs now serve one in six Americans. These programs include Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, previously known as Food Stamps), Unemployment Insurance (UI), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and others.

For elders on a fixed income, anti-poverty programs are critical in building economic security. According to the Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index (Elder Index), a measure of income adequacy for elders age 65, the gap from the average Social Security payment and what is needed for economic security is about $6,000 per year for a single elder renter. Although Social Security payments were never meant to serve as the sole source of income for older Americans, over 30% depend on Social Security for more than 90% or more of their income.

Anti-poverty programs vary in every state, but as an example, we can look at an elder with a very low fixed income in San Juan County, New Mexico – the latest state to join the Elder Economic Security Initiative. By examing each program’s impact, we demonstrate how programs help to close the income gap, with housing assistance providing the largest benefit.

(click on the chart to view it as a larger image)

It is critical to conduct outreach to elders so they are aware of income support programs that can help them make ends meet and meet the goal of economic security.

Keeping the Promise of Social Security for Older Women and their Families

2010-08-31T09:38:00.000-04:00

Last week, Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) celebrated Women’s Equality Day and we continue to commemorate the women who came before us and advocated for our right to vote. Even today, however, there are still women’s issues to address, like equal pay. We encourage you and your networks to participate with us next month in a push to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. Unequal pay continues to affect a woman's ability to make ends meet in retirement. As August comes to a close and we near the end of our month-long celebration of Social Security, we here at WOW would like to reflect on just how much Social Security helps older women reach economic security.

The Elder Index, a measure of income adequacy for adults 65 and over, developed by WOW and the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, shows that women who live on Social Security alone receive on average just $12,536, though what is needed to make it is anywhere from $16,415 to $24,455 depending on their housing status. This means older women relying solely on Social Security receive 51 to 76 percent of what is needed to be secure in retirement. Despite the inability to provide 100% of the income needed to meet basic needs, Social Security is a reliable base of support for older women.

Furthermore, due to care giving responsibilities, many women leave the workforce and forfeit years of income and Social Security credits to take care of their loved ones, which is a contributing factor of why women are twice as likely to live in poverty as they age than men.

It is important to remember that while fiscal discipline is needed, it should not come at the cost of hurting Social Security beneficiaries. We must keep the promise of Social Security for future retirees who are now paying into the system and expect to receive benefits when they retire; that is how Congress set up the program 75 years ago and why it should be strengthened, not cut, so that older women, and all Americans, can continue to have a stable source of income on which they can depend on in retirement.

In celebration of Social Security's 75th birthday, Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) is blogging throughout the month about the importance of this program to an elder's ability to age in place. This is the third and final blog of the month-long series.

Learn How to be More Effective Advocates for Economic Security

2010-08-20T12:33:00.000-04:00

What is economic security really? Are generations working together or at odds? Are we on the same page with American families?

Do Americans have any idea what we are talking about?

Have you ever found yourself thinking any or all of these thoughts? Organizations across the country work tirelessly on these issues day in and day out, but each has a different definition of economic need.

Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) is working to address this through national public opinion research on economic security to help guide advocacy, education and outreach efforts to promote economic security throughout one’s lifetime.

Is your organization advancing the needs of low-income Americans? Then apply to be an Economic Security Champion.

WOW is calling on organizations willing to embrace the framework of promoting economic security over a lifetime to become our Economic Security Champions. Champions are key partners in each city at one of our five regional meetings, as part of our Building Bridges to Economic Security Campaign, in September and October. The meetings will provide a forum for an array of organizations on the local and state levels concerned about the economic justice of all Americans to discuss their priorities, share strategies and build new alliances. The meetings are as follows:

Monday September 20, 2010 – Chicago, Illinois
Economic Security Champion Application Deadline: August 23, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010 – Los Angeles, California
Economic Security Champion Application Deadline: August 30, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010 – Denver, Colorado
Economic Security Champion Application Deadline: September 3, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Economic Security Champion Application Deadline: September 3, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010 – Atlanta, GeorgiaEconomic Security Champion Application Deadline: September 8, 2010

WOW encourages your organization to apply for the award and to spread the word to your networks.

If you have any questions, please contact Kelly Stellrecht at kstellrecht@wowonline.org. Registration details are forthcoming.

We look forward to seeing you at one of our regional meetings!

Social Security is NOT in Crisis. What the 2010 Trustees Report Says About It

2010-08-12T15:00:00.002-04:00

Social Security is not in crisis and is not bankrupt. According to the annual report authored by the Board of Trustees for Social Security released last week, Social Security will have a surplus of $77 billion by the end of this year. Furthermore, annual surpluses are projected to continue until 2025. That’s the good news. The purpose of this report is to provide a “heads up” to policy makers on the solvency of Social Security. For some time now, the Trustees have stated that reform is needed to ensure full benefits are paid in the future.

After 2025, the Trustees project that the Social Security trust fund will begin to spend down over the span of 12 years and be completely spent by 2037. However, this does not mean that Social Security will be bankrupt because workers will still pay into the system. What this does mean is that if Congress does not act in the next 27 years to shore up additional Social Security revenue, beneficiaries will receive 78% of promised benefits. So, that’s the not -so -good news.

But reform options can be enacted to ensure that benefits remain solvent for future generations, such as raising the Social Security cap on who is taxed to 90% of wages as was done in 1977. Currently, 82% of wages are taxed for Social Security.

Wider Opportunites for Women (WOW) and other national and state organizations call on Congress to act now to strengthen Social Security and address Social Security’s solvency over the long-term. And we are not the only ones: Americans across the country and across party-lines value Social Security and want it to be there for them. According to a National Academy of Social Insurance/Rockefeller poll, 87% of Americans do not mind paying for Social Security because of the security and stability it provides to others.

In celebration of Social Security’s 75th birthday, Wider Opportuities for Women (WOW) created several materials for advocates, including a birthday card to send to Congress. Tell your Representative how important Social Security is to you and your family by mailing them a card.

Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) is blogging throughout the month about the importance of Social Security to an elder's ability to age in place. This is the second blog of the month-long series.

Don't be Fooled! Raising the Retirement Age is a Benefit Cut!

2010-08-06T17:24:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, I attended a Hill briefing, hosted by the National Council of Women’s Organizations' (NCWO) Older Women Economic Security Taskforce (OWES) on why raising the Social Security retirement age (again) is a bad idea. Proponents of this bad idea think it will encourage older workers to work longer and further the solvency of Social Security. The reality, however, is that raising the retirement age is a benefit cut for current and future retirees and negatively affects their ability to be economically secure. Furthermore, many older workers are not collecting benefits early because they want or choose to. In this economy older workers are being laid off and are unable to find jobs, and end up collecting benefits before full retirement age because they have to.

Here’s how raising the retirement age is a benefit cut as explained in the Raising the Social Security Age is Dangerous white paper, co-authored by Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW).

“If your benefit at age 66 is $1,000 a month but Congress raises the retirement age to 67, then you would have to wait one year to collect $1,000 a month. This means you would lose a year of collecting full benefits and lose again because instead of receiving $1,080 a month at age 67 your benefit would be just $1,000.”

The increased monthly payment of $1,080 is a result of the annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).

WOW’s Elder Economic Security Standard Index (Elder Index) further shows that current average annual Social Security benefits are not enough to make ends meet. An elder renter needs $20,326 a year while the average Social Security benefit is just $12,526 for women and $16,572 for men. As costs for basic needs continue to rise, benefit cuts would hurt an elder’s ability to age in place with dignity.

Social Security should be strengthened, not cut. Instead of looking for ways to cut benefits, Congress should look for ways to shore up more funds for this critical program that so many depend on.

In celebration of Social Security's 75th birthday, Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) is blogging throughout the month about the importance of this program to an elder's ability to age in place. This is the first blog of the month-long series.

WOW Celebrates Medicare's 45th Birthday

2010-08-03T11:46:00.000-04:00

Last week, in recognition of Medicare's 45th Birthday, Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) released a press statement supporting the strengthening of Medicare through the Affordable Care Act. Stacy Sanders, Director of the Elder Economic Security Initiative, also blogged on the Huffington Post on the importance of Medicare to an elders' economic security in retirement.

Be sure to check them out and comment on the blog!

White House Backs Paycheck Fairness Act

2010-07-23T14:35:00.003-04:00

This week, Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) and other women’s organizations met with Vice President Biden and other Administration officials about the importance of equal pay to the economic security of women and their families. Additionally, the White House hosted a call on Women and the Economy to reinforce the importance of passing the Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 182 / H.R. 12) and to share steps the Administration is taking to help with work-family balance. The Paycheck Fairness Act has already passed in the House and the President and Vice President urged the Senate to pass the bill before the August recess. The legislation once made law will equip women to advocate for fair pay in the workforce without fear of retaliation.

WOW joins with the Administration in urging the Senate to pass this legislation. For too long, women have been paid less for equal work, inhibiting many of them to make ends meet and care for their families. This aggregate affect of earning less in the workforce year after year, in combination with many women leaving the workforce intermittently for caregiving responsibilities, means women, on average, earn $413,000 less than men over a 40-year career. Depending upon where you live the number can fluctuate tremendously. According to the Center for American Progress, the wage gap for a college-educated woman in Virginia is more than $1 million over a 40-year career.

Consequently, in retirement women receive less Social Security benefits and must stretch their limited income farther in late life. As the Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index (Elder Index) shows, Social Security is not enough to make it in retirement. The Paycheck Fairness Act supports women in their working years to allow them a better chance at a secure retirement.

A calendar of events, starting in mid-August, is available to help you advocate for passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act. Let’s work together to make sure women finally receive equal pay for equal work!

-Alisha Howell
Communications & Program Coordinator
Elder Economic Security Initiative

MinnEESI Update

2010-07-16T17:33:00.001-04:00

The Minnesota Women’s Consortium, the state lead of the Minnesota Elder Economic Security Initiative (MinnEESI), has been busy these past few months planning a forum on the economic security of older women in the state. This week all of their hard work came to fruition and the Minnesota Women’s Consortium co-hosted the forum with the Office on the Economic Status of Women (OESW). Advocates and experts in aging from across the St. Paul area participated in a morning discussion on the findings of a new OESW report.

Findings from the report include:

• Among retired workers, monthly benefits averaged just $1,001 for women.
• Over half of U.S. women workers age 65 and over earned less than $35,000 in 2007. Just one-third of their male counterparts earned less than $35,000.
• According to the Minnesota Elder Index, median income for older women is just $12,691.

For more information about the event and the findings, read the full report and press release. You can also listen to the audio version of the forum.

- Alisha Howell
Communications & Program Coordinator
Elder Economic Security Initiative

WOW Remembers Dr. Robert Butler

2010-07-09T15:28:00.000-04:00

Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) recognizes the life and accomplishments of Dr. Robert Butler who passed away this week at the age of 83.

In the world of aging, few people made their mark like Dr. Butler. Throughout his adult life he advocated on behalf of all elders and educated the public on the many facets of aging and why he regarded it as a positive thing.

Most notably, Dr. Butler coined the term “ageism” to describe the discrimination of elders. Additionally, he led a critical study on aging, which concluded that aging is not the cause of elder-prone health issues, such as Alzheimer’s disease, but simply a risk factor. He also helped develop one of the first gerontology institutes at the college level and established the National Institute on Aging.

Dr. Butler’s efforts are a reminder of the importance of elder advocates and the continued study of elders’ physical and mental health and economic well-being. The Elder Economic Security Initiative and its tool the Elder Index aim to provide elders and their families with the information they need to be economically secure and age in place with dignity. The work of Dr. Butler will continue to influence how our organization and those around the world work to provide elders with a better way of life.

-Alisha Howell
Communications & Program Coordinator
Elder Economic Security Initiative

CLASS Act is a Good First Step

2010-07-07T16:58:00.001-04:00

Panelists at the 2010 National Dialogue on Long Term Care discussed the challenges associated with the rapidly growing older population, including the skyrocketing costs of long-term care, Medicare and Medicaid. This issue is of great importance because the population 85 years and older is growing at 3% rate, while the general population only grows at a rate of 1%. And those age 85 and older are more likely to need long-term care services and supports.

This event highlighted the problems associated with elders in poor health; however, in reality, millions of elders, even those in good health, struggle to make ends meet. According to national averages of the Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index (Elder Index), developed by Wider Opportunities for Women and the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, a single woman renter requires about $20,000 annually for basic needs, not including the cost of long-term care. In fact, long-term care costs can double or even triple what an elder needs to age in place, according to the Elder Index. In Michigan, for example, adding a low level of home and community-based long-term care for one person costs an extra $7,100 on average per year. The highest level of care can add up to $43,600 to living costs.

On the policy front, the staggering cost of long-term care has been addressed, in part, by the CLASS. Act, signed into law earlier this year as part of health care reform. The provisions of CLASS will establish a voluntary long-term care insurance system that today’s workers can pay into for their future long-term care needs.

While the passage of CLASS is an important step forward, there’s still much that needs to be done as the program is put into practice. First, to be successful, employers need to offer the benefit and actively educate their employees about the importance of staying enrolled. Second, employees must recognize how the CLASS benefit can help them afford long-term care services and supports. The Elder Index provides a useful tool for educating both of these audiences about the staggering cost of home and community-based long-term care. The Elder Index makes clear why programs, like CLASS, must be available to help disabled workers and elders afford long-term care.

- Kelly Stellrecht
Field & Program Associate
Elder Economic Security Initiative

More than 1 Million No Longer Receive Unemployment Insurance

2010-06-28T16:33:00.002-04:00

Although the current unemployment rate still hovers at around ten percent, the Senate last week failed to end debate and pass a measure to extend unemployment insurance (UI) and other workforce development provisions on behalf of the millions of Americans still out of work. Though economists predict the U.S. is moving toward recovery, the job market has yet to pick up steam and recreate or reinstate jobs that were lost in one of the worst recessions our country has ever faced.

This week, over 1 million people will stop receiving benefits and millions more are on the verge of stopped payments unless the extender’s bill is passed by the Senate and signed by the President. These benefits help stimulate the economy by providing $2.15 in economic growth for every dollar in spent benefits.

UI is not only a source of income for the laid-off worker, but also a source of income for their families. Many families rely on this income to pay bills and purchase food. Some use the funds to take care of the basic needs of an elder relative. The increase of unemployment among older workers, age 65 and older, has also increased dramatically – by 235% between January 2000 and December 2009 according to the AARP Policy Institute.

Regardless of what exactly the funds are used for, they serve the purpose of allowing Americans to stay afloat while searching for employment. Halting these benefits will unfortunately cause many unemployed workers to drift into poverty or fall into debt. Neither of these options is a good one for the individual nor the country as whole.

Call your Senator and let them know why extending UI benefits helps the economy of your community and the country as a whole. You can see how your Senator voted here.

-Alisha Howell
Communications & Program Coordinator
Elder Economic Security Initiative

WOW is Hiring

2010-06-25T16:56:00.002-04:00

Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) is currently accepting applications for 4 new positions within the organization. Please see links to each job description below.

WOW Research Associate; Applications reviewed on a first-come, first-serve basis
Family Economic Security Program Associate; Application deadline - July 5, 2010
Economic Security for Survivors Project Director; Application deadline - July 5, 2010
Economic Security for Survivors Project Assistant; Application deadline - July 5, 2010

Doomsday for Social Security isn't the Truth

2010-06-21T16:48:00.000-04:00

The Urban Institute is holding a series of forums this summer on Social Security, including one last week called “The Future of Social Security: Solvency, Adequacy & Equity, and Work” (Click here for information on the July forum). Panelists, including Virginia P. Reno, advisory board member for the Elder Economic Security Initiative, discussed how changes in demographics will affect the Social Security system.

The media and some politicians often use overreaching phrases like “crisis” and “going bankrupt” when referring to Social Security. This misinformation does nothing to further the debate and instead leads to a grave misunderstanding about a popular program. Seventy-five percent of Americans say it is critical to preserve Social Security -- even if it means paying higher taxes.

The truth is that Social Security is one of the most successful social programs ever created. Social Security payments have helped millions of elders stay out of poverty. In fact, about 1 in 10 elders is considered poor. Without Social Security payments, the number of elders relying only on retirement savings would increase significantly and almost half of our nation’s seniors would live below the federal poverty level.

Some argue that Social Security is the cause of our nation’s budget deficit and that its benefits represent too much of our nation’s gross domestic product (GDP). Currently, however, Social Security benefits are just 4.9% of GDP. In 2035, Social Security will be about 5.8-6.1% GDP and will remain at that level for 75 years after that.

This increase is a reality, but this isn’t the first time a federal program has shifted the division of GDP in this country. When Baby Boomers were children, the share of GDP spent on public schools rose by 2.8% between 1950 and 1975. Now that this generation is retiring a shift in the GDP spent on Social Security makes sense.

So, instead of finding ways to scare people into thinking Social Security is disappearing, we must figure out how to plan for the GDP increase, preserve benefits for elders and fulfill the promise of Social Security for future generations.

- Kelly Stellrecht
Field & Program Associate
Elder Economic Security Initiative

More information on Social Security can be found at the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI).

Exposing Elder Abuse

2010-06-18T17:18:00.001-04:00

This week Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) commemorates the 5th Annual World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. This is the first year the federal government acknowledged the day with an event co-sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Justice. The event featured officials from each department who spoke on the importance of the issue and what is happening in their respective divisions to combat elder abuse.

Financial abuse is especially detrimental to an elder’s ability to make ends meet. Elders unwillingly and unknowingly lose their assets through deceitful tactics by family members, friends, and scam artists. The advocacy group Consumer Action estimates that seniors age 60 and older represent almost 30 percent of fraud victims, though they are only 15 percent of the U.S. population.

Steps are being taken on the federal level to alleviate elder abuse, whether financial, physical, or emotional. The Elder Justice Act, made law through health reform passed earlier this year, provides funds over a four year period to support the Long-term Care Ombudsman Program, adult protective services, and also the creation of the Elder Justice Coordinating Council. The Council will collect information and make recommendations on the collaborative efforts between federal, state, and local agencies on elder abuse cases.

The passage of these provisions is an important step toward eradicating elder abuse. The unfortunate reality, however, is that many elder abuse cases go unreported.

If you suspect elder abuse in your community, please contact your local adult protective services agency.

-Alisha Howell
Communications & Program Coordinator
Elder Economic Security Initiative

WOW's Blog Day A Success!

2010-06-15T16:45:00.000-04:00

Last month, Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) hosted its second annual blog day, "America's Budget Matters (So Does Yours)". People from across the country blogged about fiscal responsibility on the federal and state levels and shared their personal insight on budget matters.

Thanks to the blogs and comments of so many we are pleased to report our blog event as a greater success than the inaugural event!

Now featured on the Budget Matters website is the Budget Matters Digest, a summary of event highlights. We encourage you to check it out.

Until next year...happy blogging!

The Women's Bureau Turns 90!

2010-06-11T11:50:00.001-04:00

This week, Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) celebrates the 90-year history of the Department of Labor Women’s Bureau. Since its establishment in 1920 the Women’s Bureau has advocated for the economic security of working women and their families. WOW is privileged to work with and is currently funded by the Women’s Bureau in two key projects advancing employment opportunities for women: the Women’s Apprenticeships in Non-Traditional Occupations (WANTO) program and the Green Jobs for Women Initiative.

WANTO funding allows WOW to provide technical assistance to employers and unions who place women in apprenticeships that are in non-traditional occupations, such as construction and carpentry. As we know, women are segregated into occupations that do not always provide self-sustaining wages, such as construction, which few women choose as a career path. In fact, according the Department of Labor, in 2008 one-half of all working women were clustered into just 25 occupations. The WANTO program is a vital component to the success of women who decide to enter non-traditional industries.

Additionally, WOW, in collaboration with Public Policy Associates, Inc., is developing, “A Woman’s Guide to Green Jobs” report to provide women in the workforce with information on professional development and training opportunities in the green jobs sector and on hiring needs and challenges in the current economy. Content for the guide was collected through a series of roundtable discussions hosted by the Women’s Bureau at various sites nationwide.

WOW is just one of the many organizations that have benefited from the establishment of the Women’s Bureau, not to mention the millions of women who profited from its advocacy efforts around the Fair Labor Standards and Equal Pay Acts. In the years to come, we look forward to working with the Women’s Bureau in its continual efforts to ensure economic security for women.

-Alisha Howell
Communications & Program Coordinator
Elder Economic Security Initiative

Mind the Gap --- All the Way to Retirement!

2010-06-10T12:03:00.007-04:00

Through the early 1960s, it was common practice for employers to segregate job listings for men and women. In many cases, identical ads were run for each gender – but with a lower pay rate for the job targeting women.

That is, until 1963, when it became illegal to pay women lower wages for the same job through passage of the Equal Pay Act under President Kennedy.

While women have made measurable progress in the workplace since passage of the Act, a severe gap persists. In 1963, women earned 59% of what men took home. Forty seven years later, women now earn 77% of their male counterparts. The loss of 23 cents on the dollar translates to a pay gap of over $10,600 between the median annual earnings of men and women. Over a lifetime of work, this translates to a loss of at least $700,000.

Loss in income not only affects women and their families during working years, but also in retirement because women contribute less to Social Security and other retirement plans when they are paid less. In 2008, the average Social Security retirement benefit for women was 24% less than the average benefit for men.

Equal pay would benefit society as a whole. Studies have found that if women in the workforce earned the same amount as men, family incomes would increase by $4,000 a year and the poverty rate would be cut in half.

The only way the wage gap will be alleviated is to address it head on and acknowledge that it is a problem. Today, as we recognize the anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, we must look at what can be done to bridge the gap. Women have made tremendous progress over the last 47 years, but more can and should be done, such as passing the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 12 / S. 182). This Act would strengthen provisions in the Equal Pay Act and create incentives for employers to follow the law. It has already passed in the House last year and has over 40 cosponsors in the Senate.

It’s time for the Senate and President Obama to make this legislation a priority – pass the bill, make it law and close the gap.

- Kelly Stellrecht
Field & Program Associate
Elder Economic Security Initiative

More information on the wage gap can be found at the National Women’s Law Center and the American Association of University Women.

West Virginia Launch!

2010-06-07T12:32:00.002-04:00

Last week, the Elder Economic Security Initiative™ officially launched in West Virginia at a press event at the state capitol in Charleston!

Our state partner, the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy hosted the event in collaboration with the West Virginia Long Term Care Partnership, the Gerontology Institute at UMASS-Boston, and WOW. Speakers discussed the importance of the Initiative to the citizens of West Virginia and explained the county level data of the Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index.

After the press event, our state partner conducted a webinar to discuss the findings of the Elder Index with media outside the Charleston area. The webinar also featured Stacy Sanders from WOW and our research partner Alison Gottlieb from the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Radio and newspaper outlets featured the Initiative last week, including the Charleston Gazette and West Virginia National Public Radio.

Congratulations to the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy and the West Virginia Long Term Care Partnership on a successful day of events!

West Virginia Reports:

• West Virginia Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index

• Elders Living the Edge: When Basic Needs Exceed Income in West Virginia