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

• The average Social Security payment of $11,251 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 if they rent or home a home with a mortgage.
• Men, with a pension in addition to Social Security and other sources of unearned income, are not doing much better than women. They also can not meet their basic expenses if they rent or are still paying off a mortgage.
• 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.