New data reveals that people 60 and older are spending on average 20 percent more days homeless than other seniors.
Last month, I reported that, in general, people ages 55 and up are spending more time on the street than younger homeless people. Experts say that’s because many live on fixed incomes that don’t match growing costs.
I wanted to know if there was an age group among seniors that was especially struggling. Turns out, data like that isn’t available, but the Regional Task Force on Homelessness shared that internal reports indicate seniors above the age of 60 are spending more time on the streets than others.
Melinda Forstey, president and CEO of Serving Seniors, said as people get older, they have trouble navigating the system for benefits.
“The definition of senior or older adult truly varies depending on either what government agency or what benefit you’re speaking to,” said Forstey. “You can imagine how confusing and challenging this can be for folks.”
A national homelessness expert told me many of these seniors in the 60-65 age range were part of the baby boom in the United States – the largest birth cohort in the history of the nation.
The booming birth rates back then created too many workers with too few jobs, and impacted our social safety net to accommodate this increased population and their needs.
“We predicted this was coming,” said Dennis P. Culhane, a social science researcher who focuses on homelessness at the University of Pennsylvania.
Culhane said many of the homeless adults he studies in the 60 to 65 age range aren’t eligible for social security. That’s because some of them worked under-the-table jobs like construction, farm work, domestic work, or are the surviving spouses of someone who did.
To qualify for social security, an individual needs to be 62 and have proof that they worked for at least a decade while paying social security taxes. Those who don’t qualify can apply for supplemental security income but must be 65 or older, blind or disabled and make little to no income.
A retired worker can get about $2,000 from social security a month. For supplemental security income, a person can get a little under $1,000.
Culhane said we’re seeing more homeless seniors from ages 60 to 65 because many of them can’t qualify for social security, and they’re too young to get supplemental security income.
“This is the group that we’re talking about, who is basically in this catch-22,” he said.
Sixty-one-year-old Mark Diega has had trouble qualifying for government benefits.
He became homeless in 2011 after his mother passed away, and his family home was foreclosed on by the bank.
Diega said he was denied social security disability income because he doesn’t have enough medical records. He can’t qualify for social security until he turns 62 and must wait until he’s 65 to qualify for supplemental security income.
Injuries to his shoulder and neck have prevented him from going back to work at a shipbuilding company in Chula Vista. Diega currently lives off $193 a month from a San Diego County general relief and stays at a shelter downtown.
“I use that up just to go eat. That’s not enough,” he said.