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California Elder Economic Security Inititiative™ (EESI)

Elder Index by County

Long Term Care Costs by County

Transforming the Way We Address the Economic Needs of Older Californians

Seniors in California and across the nation are struggling to make ends meet. Their fixed incomes do not cover their ever-increasing costs, and our public policies do not close the gap. Seniors who have spent their entire lives being productive members of society, working and paying into the system, deserve better. As a nation, and a state, it is our responsibility to make sure they don’t spend their “golden years” struggling to make ends meet.

Led by the Insight Center for Community Economic Development, the California Elder Economic Security Initiative™ (Cal-EESI) is a statewide, research-driven initiative at the forefront of a national movement to ensure that seniors have the support and resources they need to age with economic dignity and well-being. We partner with Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) in Washington D.C. and states across the country in this effort.

The Elder Economic Security Standard Index™: A More Accurate Measure of What it Takes to Make Ends Meet

A key component of the California Elder Economic Security Initiative is the Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index (Elder Index), a new tool that quantifies the actual costs of meeting basic needs, and the only elder-specific financial measure of its kind. The Elder Index measures how much income is needed for seniors in different housing situations, living in a particular county, and in good or poor health, to meet their basic needs – without public or private assistance. The Elder Index quantifies basic living expenses for retired elders 65 and older living in the community – not in institutions.

The Elder Index methodology was developed by WOW and the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, and applied by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research in California. It uses the most current (2007), widely accepted and credible national and state data sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Geographically relevant data is used for each county in California, reflecting local market rates for items such as housing, food, health care, transportation and other basic necessities.

The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the Insight Center have just released new data that reveal in-home long term care costs more than most California seniors can afford.

“Half A Million Older Californians Living Alone Unable to Make Ends Meet”
This newly released policy brief provides data on the staggering number of California seniors who are unable to cover the cost of their most basic needs. The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the Insight Center  have used the Elder Index to quantify for the first time, how many seniors are struggling in each California county, as well as who is struggling most by age, race, gender, and housing type.

To find out how much income is needed for elders to make ends meet in your county, and which elders are struggling the most, click here.

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