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Insight Home >> Insight Communities >> Californians for Economic Security (CFES) >> Elder Standard- Lake Print this page

What Elders Need to Live and What they Have in Lake County

This chart compares the basic cost of living, as quantified by the Elder Standard Index, to three common sources of  income for elders.  The gap between elders' basic living expenses, as shown by the Elder Standard Index lines in black, and their income, as shown by the green bar charts, illustrates the degree of economic instability that far too many elders experience. To view the detailed table, click here.

The chart shows that it is not just "poor" elders who are struggling in Lake County:

  • The average Social Security payment of $12,068 is not enough to live on, and yet, one out of three seniors in California rely exclusively on Social Security to cover their basic costs.
  • Women--even those few fortunate enough to have a pension in addition to Social Security--can not meet their expenses whether they rent, or own their home with or without a mortgage. They fall well below the Elder Standard in each category.
  • Men, with a pension in addition to Social Security and other sources of unearned income, do have enough income to meet their basic expenses.
  • Public supports are supposed to help close the gap between seniors' income and their expenses, but many elders fall through the cracks:  access to these supports is based on an unrealistically low assessment of what it costs to live, the $10,210 Federal Poverty Line.
  • SSI, the program designed to help the most vulnerable population - the  blind, aged, and disabled -- puts them hovering right above the FPL, but far below what it really costs to make ends meet, according to the Elder Standard.

 

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