Poverty Racial Disparity - Age 65+ in Colorado

Colorado

In 2020, racial and ethnic minorities made up the majority of older adults in poverty, despite accounting for only 24% of the older adult population in the United States. The poverty rate among American Indian/Alaska Native, Black and Hispanic older adults is more than double that of white older adults.

Poverty is associated with poor health outcomes. It influences environmental exposures and health-related behaviors, and increases the risk of chronic disease and mortality. Among older adults, poverty is linked to an increased risk of disability, homelessness, and physical and cognitive decline. 

Racial disparities in poverty are caused by cumulative disadvantages that occur over generations. The negative effects of interpersonal and structural racism on social determinants of health interact with one another, deepening inequities and placing communities of color at higher risk for poor health outcomes.

Older adults of color are disproportionately affected by poverty: 

• Black older adults make up 9% of the senior population and 17.2% live in poverty.
• Hispanic older adults make up 9% of the senior population and 16.6% live in poverty. 
• Asian older adults make up 5% of the senior population and 11.5% live in poverty.

For comparison, white older adults make up 76% of the senior population and 6.8% live in poverty.

Many federal, state and local government programs, as well as community interventions, exist to support and help reduce the number of older adults living in poverty. Some of them include Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Medicare, Medicaid and housing assistance, as well as food and nutrition support like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and congregate or home-delivered meal programs.

However, in order to address the racial gap in poverty among older adults, long-term approaches are needed to end cycles of generational poverty. Some ways to do this include:

• Providing opportunities for Black and Hispanic people to leave segregated neighborhoods and move to cities where there are more opportunities for higher-paying jobs with retirement plans and child care benefits.
• Establishing affordable housing in safe neighborhoods with access to jobs and education. 
• Providing academic and social support to at-risk youth to reduce high school dropout rates. High school graduates are four times less likely to struggle economically in older adulthood.

Adler, Nancy E., Thomas Boyce, Margaret A. Chesney, Sheldon Cohen, Susan Folkman, Robert L. Kahn, and S. Leonard Syme. “Socioeconomic Status and Health: The Challenge of the Gradient.” American Psychologist 49, no. 1 (1994): 15–24. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.49.1.15.

Administration on Aging. “2021 Profile of Older Americans.” Administration for Community Living, November 2022. https://acl.gov/sites/default/files/Profile%20of%20OA/2021%20Profile%20of%20OA/2021ProfileOlderAmericans_508.pdf.

Baker, Kermit, Pamela Baldwin, Kerry Donahue, Angela Flynn, Christopher Herbert, Elizabeth La Jeunesse, Mary Lancaster, et al. “Housing America’s Older Adults—Meeting the Needs of an Aging Population.” Edited by Marcia Fernald. Cambridge, MA: Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, 2014. https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/media/imp/jchs-housing_americas_older_adults_2014_0.pdf.

Braveman, Paula A., Catherine Cubbin, Susan Egerter, David R. Williams, and Elsie Pamuk. “Socioeconomic Disparities in Health in the United States: What the Patterns Tell Us.” American Journal of Public Health 100, no. S1 (April 1, 2010): S186–96. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2009.166082.

Fulwood III, Sam. “The United States’ History of Segregated Housing Continues to Limit Affordable Housing.” Center for American Progress, December 15, 2016. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-united-states-history-of-segregated-housing-continues-to-limit-affordable-housing/.

Galea, Sandro, Melissa Tracy, Katherine J. Hoggatt, Charles DiMaggio, and Adam Karpati. “Estimated Deaths Attributable to Social Factors in the United States.” American Journal of Public Health 101, no. 8 (August 2011): 1456–65. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2010.300086.

Hahn, Robert A., John A. Knopf, Sandra Jo Wilson, Benedict I. Truman, Bobby Milstein, Robert L. Johnson, Jonathan E. Fielding, et al. “Programs to Increase High School Completion: A Community Guide Systematic Health Equity Review.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 48, no. 5 (March 26, 2015): 599–608. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2014.12.005.

Lansford, Jennifer E., Kenneth A. Dodge, Gregory S. Pettit, and John E. Bates. “A Public Health Perspective on School Dropout and Adult Outcomes: A Prospective Study of Risk and Protective Factors From Age 5 to 27 Years.” Journal of Adolescent Health 58, no. 6 (March 19, 2016): 652–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.01.014.

Lin, Ann Chih, and David R. Harris. “The Colors of Poverty: Why Racial & Ethnic Disparities Persist.” National Poverty Center Policy Brief #16, January 2009, 1–4. http://www.npc.umich.edu/publications/policy_briefs/brief16/.

Lubetkin, Erica I., and Haomiao Jia. “Burden of Disease Associated with Lower Levels of Income among US Adults Aged 65 and Older.” BMJ Open 7, no. 1 (January 2017): e013720. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-013720.

Minkler, Meredith, Esme Fuller-Thomson, and Jack M. Guralnik. “Gradient of Disability across the Socioeconomic Spectrum in the United States.” New England Journal of Medicine 355, no. 7 (August 17, 2006): 695–703. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsa044316.

Steptoe, Andrew, and Paola Zaninotto. “Lower Socioeconomic Status and the Acceleration of Aging: An Outcome-Wide Analysis.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117, no. 26 (June 30, 2020): 14911–17. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1915741117.