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

• The average Social Security payment of $13,735 is not enough to live on, and yet, one out of three seniors in California relies 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 just barely meet their expenses if they are renters. If they are homeowners with a mortgage, they fall short of the Elder Standard Index by about $14,000 a year.
• Men, with a pension in addition to Social Security and other sources of unearned income, are getting by if they rent or own a home without a mortgage. But men who are still paying off a mortgage fall just short of the Elder Standard Index.
• 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 these individuals hovering right above the FPL, but far below what it really costs to make ends meet, according to the Elder Standard Index.