Elderly Poverty & Assets

The elderly have much higher poverty rates under the new Supplemental Poverty Measure than under official statistics. But the SPM does not account for the likely substantial assets that many older Americans can use to meet their expenses in retirement. With funding from the Steven H. Sandell Grant Program at Boston College, we have incorporated assets into the measurement of elderly poverty in order to re-assess poverty levels and recent trends.

To read the working paper, click here.