California adult day healthcare centers get a reprieve, By Anna Gorman, November 18, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “Just weeks before the planned closure of adult day healthcare centers throughout California, state officials and disability rights attorneys reached a legal settlement Thursday that preserves services for those low-income seniors and disabled residents most at risk of being institutionalized. The state, which faces a $3.7-billion revenue shortfall, had targeted the centers as part of a plan to reduce spending on Medi-Cal, the government health program for the poor and disabled. Adult day healthcare centers provide nursing care, occupational therapy, physical therapy, meals and exercise to people with serious disabilities, brain injuries and chronic illnesses…”

• FCC launching $4-billion program to narrow digital divide, By Alexa Vaughn, November 9, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “The Federal Communications Commission is launching a $4-billion program to narrow the digital divide by making high-speed Internet access and computers more affordable for more than 25 million mainly low-income Americans. The FCC said a public-private partnership, which includes major broadband and computer companies and nonprofits, will make ‘the biggest effort ever’ across the nation to help poorer citizens as well as rural residents, seniors and minorities obtain broadband access. Those who qualify would pay $9.95 a month for Internet access at 1 megabit per second and $150 for a refurbished laptop running the Windows 7 operating system, along with applications that include digital literacy training…”
• Internet access: Discount for poor families with kids, By Peter Svensson (AP), November 10, 2011, Christian Science Monitor: “Cable companies said Wednesday that they will offer Internet service for $9.95 per month to homes with children that are eligible for free school lunches. The offer will start next summer and is part of an initiative the Federal Communications Commission cobbled together to get more U.S. homes connected to broadband. One third, or about 35 million homes, don’t have broadband. That affects people’s ability to educate themselves and find and apply for jobs, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said…”

State budget cuts threaten day programs for thousands of seniors and the disabled, By Sandy Kleffman, November 8, 2011, Contra Costa Times: “State budget cuts that go into effect Dec. 1 will eliminate funding for day programs for thousands of seniors and the disabled, creating angst among relatives who say their lives will be turned upside down. Some fear they will have to send their elders to institutions. Others worry they will need to quit jobs to care for them. Unless a pending lawsuit blocks the plan, the state will halt $169 million in annual Medi-Cal funding for 35,000 people in 287 adult day health care programs throughout California, jeopardizing many of the programs…”

Tennessee boomers face growing threat of hunger, By Stephanie Toone, September 11, 2011, The Tennessean: “Therese Marrs has learned the art of stretching a link of smoked sausage, a jar of cheese and a box of macaroni into three meals every week. The 56-year-old Smyrna mother struggles to make the meals come together for her husband and 16-year-old daughter each week, since she was laid off from her quality assurance job at a factory in February. She spends almost every day looking for jobs, but she fears the worst once her unemployment benefits run out in a few months. ‘I’ve learned how to cut my meals. My food stamps only stretch about three weeks, so the food bank helps,’ Marrs said. ‘I’ve been working in factories since I was 15, but I can’t seem to get anybody to hire me.’ Marrs is among the 1 in 6 Tennesseans and 15.6 million older adults who face the threat of hunger as a result of a lingering weak economy in America, according to a recently released AARP report, ‘Food Insecurity Among Older Adults…’”

Aging America: Grandparents stepping in to help grandkids as families struggle in bad economy, Associated Press, August 26, 2011, Washington Post: “America is swiftly becoming a granny state. Less frail and more involved, today’s grandparents are shunning retirement homes and stepping in more than ever to raise grandchildren while young adults struggle in the poor economy. The newer grandparents are mainly baby boomers who are still working, with greater disposable income. Now making up 1 in 4 adults, grandparents are growing at twice the rate of the overall population and sticking close to family - if their grandkids aren’t already living with them. Grandparents in recent decades have often filled in for absent parents who were ill or battled addiction, or were sent to prison. The latest trend of grandparent involvement, reflected in census figures released Thursday, is now being driven also by the economy and the graying U.S. population, including the 78 million boomers born between 1946 and 1964 who began turning 65 this year…”

• Poverty study: 1 in 3 Michigan senior citizens struggles with money, By Robin Erb, July 20, 2011, Detroit Free Press: “A third of Michigan’s seniors are considered ‘economically insecure’ - far more than the federal poverty limits would suggest, according to a new study. Moreover, even in counties that are home to some of the most affluent suburbs where the wealthiest will buoy the overall median household income, at least one in four seniors on the other end of the economic scale struggles to make ends meet, according to the paper, ‘Invisible Poverty: New Measure Unveils Financial Hardship in Michigan’s Older Population…’”
• Study: Third of Lansing-area seniors are struggling financially, By Kathleen Lavey, July 19, 2011, Lansing State Journal: “More than one-third of Michigan’s senior citizens are struggling to pay for food, housing, transportation and medical care they need, according a report to be released today. Those who do not own homes or who rely solely on Social Security payments to live are at much greater risk, says the report by Wayne State University researchers. ‘These numbers are very frightening,’ said Kate White, executive director of Elder Law of Michigan, an advocacy and service group that is releasing the Michigan- focused report today along with the report’s authors…”

Medicare doesn’t cover many health-care expenses for low-income seniors, By N.C. Aizenman, July 18, 2011, Washington Post: “Helen Johnson gave a welcoming smile to the group of older men and women who had assembled at the senior center in the Maryland Eastern Shore town of Snow Hill on a recent evening. All of them were caregivers for spouses or parents with debilitating illnesses. ‘We’re very concerned about you,’ began Johnson, 74, who organizes support programs for a nonprofit agency serving the elderly. ‘You spend so much time tending to your loved ones, you don’t have time for your self.’ But Johnson’s comforting message masked worries of her own. There was the gnawing pain in her arthritic knee, which gets so bad by late afternoon that she can’t stand up for more than a few minutes at a time. There was her dread of the drive home after dark, which has become difficult as her eyesight has weakened. And perhaps most wearying, there was the knowledge that despite her dislike of working evening hours, she had no alternative. Nearly a decade after reaching retirement age and qualifying for Medicare, Johnson cannot afford to give up her job. Even with the paycheck it brings, her income is only a few notches above the federal poverty level…”

Medicaid program hailed, By Paris Achen, July 14, 2011, The Columbian: “After a monthlong convalescence in a skilled-nursing facility, 67-year-old Sandra Morgan relishes every day she spends at home. Four years ago, complications from a surgery to remove cancer landed Morgan in Vancouver’s Heritage Health and Rehabilitation Center. (It closed in 2007 to make room for the state Highway 500 and St. Johns Road interchange.) ‘I had visited a nursing home before, but you have no idea what it’s like until you’ve been there,’ Morgan says. ‘People are in different stages of life and death. One lady screamed into the night.’ There was no privacy. Morgan says she had to use a chamber pot to relieve herself and never had the luxury of washing her hands because the staff was too busy to help her. Showers happened just once a week when she was hosed down in her wheelchair, and the food was hard to stomach, she said. Morgan remembers being served a cup of orange juice laced with a thickening agent as a precaution against choking. ‘It was a miracle to get to come home,’ Morgan says. ‘It was an answer to a prayer.’ Morgan says her savior was a state Medicaid-funded program that pays for low-income patients to receive a caretaker at home for a set number of hours instead of living at a skilled-nursing facility…”

Pensions: Low-paid ‘face pension poverty’, ONS says, June 22, 2011, BBC News: “Low earners face ‘potential poverty’ in old age because they are not building up pensions or savings to supplement the state pension, a report has warned. Only 16% of men and 27% of women employed full-time on less than £300 a week are in a pension scheme, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Its latest Pension Trends report said that many people are ’stretched’ by the cost of living and are unable to save…”

Budget slashed for jobs for older, low-income workers, By Walker Moskop, June 20, 2001, San Antonio Express-News: “Even with the food stamps she received, Sandy Hipp was barely making enough money when she lived on a minimum-wage salary working 24 hours a week at a senior apartment complex in Seguin. Then, in April, Congress slashed the funding for the program paying her wages, and her hours were cut back to 18. Hipp, 58, said she’ll have to find another job soon and will apply to work at a plant nursery in Seguin. For older, low-income jobseekers, the task of landing work is now a greater uphill climb. The Senior Community Service Employment Program, the national program that gives grants to organizations to train workers, connect them with employers and pay their wages, has seen its budget slashed from $825 million for 2010-11 to $450 million for 2011-12 - a 45 percent cut…”

Martinez extends state’s food stamp aid, By Barry Massey (AP), June 6, 2011, Santa Fe New Mexican: “Republican Gov. Susana Martinez announced Monday she will extend a state program through September to supplement federal food-stamp benefits for about 4,000 low-income elderly and disabled New Mexicans. Martinez will use federal economic stimulus money to prevent a reduction of food-stamp benefits starting in July, when the program otherwise would have ended. The Legislature did not approve any money for the program in the upcoming fiscal year, which starts next month, although the Martinez administration had requested $650,000. The governor estimated it will cost $50,000 a month to continue the food-stamp assistance…”

State plans to stop food stamp supplement for elderly, By Barry Massey (AP), June 2, 2011, Alamogordo Daily News: “About 4,000 low-income elderly and disabled New Mexicans will see their food stamp benefits drop in July due to state budget cuts. Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration plans to end a state program that supplements federal food stamp benefits for the elderly and disabled to ensure they get at least $25 a month in assistance. ‘That’s 4,000 seniors who will have less money for food. That’s the impact,’ Ruth Hoffman, director of Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in New Mexico, said Tuesday. New Mexicans who qualify for $16 a month in federal food stamps - currently the minimum amount from the federal government - also get an extra $9 a month from the state to make certain their combined assistance is $25. But the Democratic-controlled Legislature provided no money to continue the supplemental benefits in the upcoming budget year, which starts July 1. The Martinez administration had requested $600,000 from the Legislature to continue the program…”

Job cuts puts seniors in jeopardy, By Shaya Tayefe Mohajer (AP), April 17, 2011, Contra Costa Times: “For $700 a month, 65-year-old Esmeralda Calderon cares for children part time through a federal community service job that’s in jeopardy because of cuts to the proposed federal budget for 2011. It’s the only source of income for a woman who has no one to rely on and lives alone in public housing in a gritty Hollywood neighborhood. Under the Department of Labor’s Senior Community Service Employment Program, more than 75,000 elderly Americans living in poverty in all 50 states earn their keep by the slimmest of margins. To qualify, participants must be over 55 and earning less than 125 percent of the federal poverty level - $13,600 a year. In the budget bill signed Friday by President Barack Obama, the program was slashed by 45 percent, from $825 million to $450 million a year. Advocates say it could mean as many as 58,000 fewer jobs if states or national groups are forced to discontinue the program because of the reductions…”

Low-income elderly could lose drug plan, By Guy Boulton, March 13, 2011, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed two-year budget would effectively end the state’s SeniorCare prescription drug program in its current form, forcing tens of thousands of people to enroll in more-expensive private plans available through Medicare Part D. The SeniorCare program, introduced in 2001, provides low-cost prescription drug coverage to low-income people over 65. About 91,000 people are in the program, and for most of them, switching to private coverage could cost hundreds of dollars more per year. ‘Most people now in SeniorCare will not be better off in Medicare Part D,’ said John Hendrick, governmental affairs director for the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups. The least expensive prescription drug plan through Medicare Part D in Wisconsin this year costs $177.60 and has a $310 annual deductible as well as co-pays. Most cost more: The average plan costs $43.96 a month, or $527 a year, based on estimated enrollment, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. In contrast, almost 40,000 of the people in the SeniorCare program - those with household incomes below $17,424 for one person and $23,536 for two people - pay only a $5 co-pay for generic drugs and $15 for branded drugs, plus a $30 annual enrollment fee…”

Number of seniors living in poverty soars nearly 25%, By Joe Friesen, November 24, 2010, Globe and Mail: “The number of seniors living in poverty spiked at the beginning of the financial meltdown, reversing a decades-long trend and threatening one of Canada’s most important social policy successes. The number of seniors living below the low-income cutoff, Statistics Canada’s basic measure of poverty, jumped nearly 25 per cent between 2007 and 2008, to 250,000 from 204,000, according to figures released on Wednesday by Campaign 2000. It’s the largest increase among any group, and as the first cohort of baby boomers turns 65 next year, could place increased pressure on families supporting elderly parents. Economists say women make up as much as 80 per cent of the increase in seniors poverty…”

Mergers, program cuts recommended to trim state budget, By Cy Ryan, October 29, 2010, Las Vegas Sun: “Merging agencies, shifting programs to local government and cutting benefits to low-income residents are among proposals to save millions of dollars as the state faces a financial crunch. The fiscal staff of the Legislature on Thursday outlined more than 20 ideas for efficiencies and savings in the upcoming budget. State agencies have produced initial budgets with 10 percent reductions. The legislative financial division has additional suggestions the 2011 session might consider…”

For the elderly, poverty level doesn’t cut it, By Alexandra Zavis, October 17, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “At the age of 80, Exaltacion Divinagracia thought that life would be easier. The petite widow still works part time at a nursery school. To keep the house she rented with her late husband, she has taken six roommates, all over 75. After church on Saturdays and Sundays, she drags a beat-up suitcase from one food pantry to the next in search of enough to eat for the coming week. Divinagracia takes home less than $13,000 a year, including public benefits. But according to the government’s income standards, she is not impoverished. To get that designation a single person must live on $10,830 a year or less. Experts say the standard - which is used nationwide to assess need, determine eligibility for aid and measure the effectiveness of public programs - has little to do with reality, particularly in places like Los Angeles, where housing costs are high. A recent UCLA study found that most older Californians, those 65 or older, need at least twice the income calculated by the federal government to make ends meet - $21,763 a year on average for a single person renting a one-bedroom apartment, or $30,634 for a couple…”

• Hard choices: Oregon can’t keep up with rising health, social services costs, By Michelle Cole, September 28, 2010, The Oregonian: “The Great Recession placed a heavy burden on Oregon: Nearly one in five people relies on the state to help put food on the table. More than 635,000 depended on government-provided health care last year. Tens of thousands of seniors, children and people with disabilities counted on the state for help. Looking ahead to the next state budget, it’s clear that Oregon cannot afford those same services for all who need them. Even if state government spent every dollar of new revenue on health and human services and none of that money on schools, police or prisons, it would still come up $200 million short. Complicating the math: More than $1 billion in federal stimulus and other supports that helped the Oregon Department of Human Services and the newly formed Oregon Health Authority cope with record demand will dry up as of July 1…”
• $281M cut from state social programs ‘devastating,’ advocates say, By Janet I. Tu and Carol M. Ostrom, September 29, 2010, Seattle Times: “Cutting programs for the mentally ill, disabled and poor elderly residents, the state’s Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) announced Wednesday a wide swath of reductions totaling nearly $281 million and bringing a flood of concern from advocates for the poor and vulnerable. The 6.3 percent across-the-board cuts, some of which will begin in October, include nearly $113 million of state funding for Medicaid programs providing hospice care to the dying, and medical care for those too disabled to work, children and pregnant women, among others. The cuts are being made in response to Gov. Chris Gregoire’s directive to pare spending to help balance the state’s budget, as required by the state constitution…”

Aging population, spending on health costs boost debt, By Maureen Groppe, September 14, 2010, Newark Advocate: ” It’s not difficult to find someone getting a boost from the federal government. They might be sitting across from you at breakfast. Almost half the country lived in households in which at least one person benefited from a federal social welfare or social insurance program in 2008. Some were helped by programs such as food stamps, for which demand increases when the economy sinks. But the Census Bureau said the programs benefiting the most households were Social Security and Medicare, the retirement and health programs for the elderly. Those programs, along with Medicaid, have grown in 40 years from 19 percent of the budget to 39 percent in 2009, more than doubling their share. Costs are going to keep increasing as more baby boomers retire and health care costs continue to increase…”

• Poverty rise stirs debate over aid programs, By Corey Dade, September 16, 2010, National Public Radio: “The recession drove the number of poor Americans in 2009 to its highest total in half a century, yet several measures indicate the impact could well have been worse. While the Census Bureau’s report Thursday on the economic conditions of U.S. households found that 3.8 million more people lived in poverty last year than in 2008, the agency and advocates for the poor say millions of others were sustained with the help of government programs. Advocates cite federal stimulus initiatives aimed at low-income earners and the extension of unemployment benefits, which alone are credited with helping keep 3.3 million people out of poverty…”
• Poverty rate hits 15-year high, U.S. figures show, By Alfred Lubrano, September 17, 2010, Philadelphia Inquirer: “Driven by the relentless recession, the U.S. poverty rate soared to 14.3 percent in 2009, its highest level in 15 years, new government figures show. The rate was up from 13.2 percent in 2008, according to a report the Census Bureau released Thursday. Locally the picture was less dire, with poverty rising slightly to 11.1 percent in Pennsylvania and to 9.3 percent in New Jersey…”
• ‘The new poor’: Poverty reaches historic levels, By Tony Pugh, September 16, 2010, Miami Herald: “The withering recession pushed the number of Americans who are living in poverty to a 51-year high in 2009 and left a record 50.7 million people without health insurance, the Census Bureau said Thursday. The 43.6 million Americans who were poor last year — up from 39.8 million the year before — were the most since poverty estimates were first published in 1959. The national poverty rate of 14.3 percent, up from 13.2 percent in 2008, was the highest since 1994. The bureau also found that median income — the amount at which half of U.S. households earn more or less — had fallen 4.2 percent by 2009 since the recession began in 2007…”
• 1 in 7 in U.S. lives below poverty line, By Don Lee and Alana Semuels, September 17, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “The recession and longer-term economic troubles have pushed the nation’s poverty rate to levels not seen in more than a decade, wiping out gains in the long-running War on Poverty and adding more financial strain to the lives of millions of Americans. New Census Bureau data, released Thursday, also showed that the face of the poor has changed. Those falling below the poverty line today are more likely to be full-time workers who cannot earn enough to meet their needs or middle-class workers driven into the ranks of the poor by lost jobs or shrinking incomes. The higher poverty level - 14.3%, or an increase of nearly 4 million people last year - means higher costs for government programs such as food stamps and unemployment compensation and potentially heavier tax burdens for the country as a whole…”
• The new poor and the almost-poor: Will poverty rate climb more?, By Patrik Jonsson, September 16, 2010, Christian Science Monitor: “Call them the newly poor. They are the 4.8 million people in America who last year joined the ranks of people living in poverty - defined as having less than $22,000 in annual income for a family of four. They are people, probably, much like Reginald O’Neal and his family. Mr. O’Neal and several family members were at the Dekalb County welfare department here on Thursday, trying to get help to turn the electricity back on at their house. ‘If you were to see our house, you’d think we were middle class,’ says the 20-something Atlantan. ‘But that would be missing the point: Lately, we’re poor…’”
• US adds 3.8 million more to ranks of the poor as poverty rate jumps, By Ron Scherer, September 16, 2010, Christian Science Monitor: “The deepest recession in modern times has sharply increased the ranks of the poor during the past year, with 1 in 7 people in America officially counted as living in poverty. The news from a US Census Bureau report released Thursday underscores how deeply the Great Recession has affected the nation’s standard of living. The key findings of report, which compared income, poverty rate, and health-care insurance coverage in 2009 with 2008 numbers, include the following…”
• Despite recession, seniors see income gains, By Dennis Cauchon and Richard Wolf, September 17, 2010, USA Today: “Senior citizens are enjoying some of the biggest income gains in decades at a time when every other age group is losing ground in the recession, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. The 31 million households headed by people 65 and older saw their median income rise by a healthy 5.8% in 2009 after inflation and 7.1% since the recession began in December 2007. Every other age group has suffered income losses of at least 4% during the recession, the data show…”
• Not quite poor, but struggling: Do seniors need their own poverty index?, By Matt O’Brien, September 16, 2010, Contra Costa Times: “The proportion of America’s seniors living in poverty dropped last year to just under 9 percent, a hopeful statistic in an otherwise dismal report on poverty released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. Local senior advocates, however, say the numbers mask some of the financial struggles older residents face living in the Bay Area, where the cost of living is high…”
• Poverty rise reflects toll of recession, By Bill Bush and Rita Price, September 17, 2010, Columbus Dispatch: “They didn’t earn much, but for most of their marriage, the Bowens had enough. ‘We could afford to go out and eat once in a while, do the stuff that families do,’ Carolyn Bowen said. ‘Now, we can’t even go for ice cream.’ The math no longer works: Ron Bowen lost a job that paid $20 an hour and, after eight months of unemployment, finally found another - cleaning offices for $9.50 an hour. The Bowens and their children have joined 43.6million other Americans - about one in seven - who live in an uncertain place where groceries are bought with government-issued benefit cards and bills might not be paid. A U.S. Census Bureau report released yesterday put the nation’s official poverty rate at 14.3 percent last year, up from 13.2 percent in 2008. It hasn’t been higher since 1994, but is still 8.1 percentage points lower than in 1959, the first year for which estimates are available…”
• A descent into poverty for millions, By Warren Wolfe and Jeremy Olson, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: “Ramsey County human services planner Jim Anderson didn’t need Thursday’s census report to know that poverty has climbed sharply since the economy collapsed in 2008. Last month he turned away 59 adults with 126 children seeking emergency shelter for families. In a report that confirmed what experts like Anderson have sensed, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday that the nation’s poverty rate shot to 14.3 percent last year, the highest in 16 years, and that one in five American children were living below the poverty line. Household incomes also stagnated, and the number of people without health insurance reached an all-time high of 51 million. The report suggested that in Minnesota, too, poverty is on the rise…”
• Poverty in Hawaii highest since ‘97, By Mary Vorsino, September 17, 2010, Honolulu Star-Advertiser: “Thousands more Hawaii residents fell into poverty last year, driving up the rate here to its highest level since 1997, Census Bureau figures released yesterday show. The poverty rate in Hawaii rose to 12.5 percent in 2009 — with more than 156,000 people living below the poverty line — the third consecutive year the state saw growing numbers of impoverished people. In 2007, 7.5 percent of the state’s population was below the poverty line. In 2008, the number rose to 9.9 percent — or 125,000 people…”
• Michigan’s poverty rate hits 14%, highest level in 16 years, By Mike Wilkinson and Catherine Jun, September 17, 2010, Detroit News: “Michigan’s poverty rate last year reached a 16-year high as the full effects of the recession continued to sweep across the country, according to a report issued Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The state’s poverty rate in 2009 rose to 14 percent, up from 13 percent in 2008. That’s 1.4 million people in poverty. In 2000, the rate was 9.9 percent. Data further showed the Midwest — plagued by job losses in manufacturing — was hit the hardest in median income, falling to its lowest point since 1994. But the region didn’t suffer alone. Nationally, the number of poor climbed to the highest level since the 1960s, leaving one in seven Americans in poverty, the report said…”
• Poverty at a 51-year high in the U.S., By Renée C. Lee, September 17, 2010, Houston Chronicle: “More than 43 million Americans lived in poverty last year, the largest number in 51 years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The figure pushes the national poverty rate to 14.3 percent, up from 13.2 percent in 2008, statistics released Thursday show. In Texas, there were about 4.3 million people living in poverty in 2009, increasing the state’s poverty rate to 17.3 percent, up from 15.9 percent the prior year. County numbers won’t be available until later this month, but local social service agencies say they expect them to reflect what’s happening at the national and state level…”
• Texas seeks answers to rising poverty rate, By Robert T. Garrett and Kim Horner, September 17, 2010, Dallas Morning News: “The government announced Thursday that nearly 4.3 million Texans lived in poverty last year, a whopping 11 percent increase. Larry James and Jill Cumnock absorbed the news many months ago. They run charities that feed and tend a swelling group of poor North Texans, and they say demand has gone up by at least 25 percent, and in some cases has doubled, since the economy took a dive in 2008. ‘The need is going up, that’s for sure,’ said James, president and chief executive of Central Dallas Ministries. He said his nonprofit is on track to feed, house and assist as many as 48,000 people this year - up from 43,000 last year and 34,000 two years ago…”
• One-time working men now the ‘fresh face of poverty’, By Rick Montgomery, September 16, 2010, Kansas City Star: “The nation’s poverty rate rose sharply last year and the ranks of the uninsured swelled by 10 percent, according to new government figures. Just further evidence, in cold numbers, of how the second year of the Great Recession sent working men such as Matt Stephens spiraling. He and hundreds of others lined up this week for free lunches at the Wilhelmina Gill Multi-Service Center in Kansas City, Kan. Stephens, 45, spent a year in college after high school, then attended trade school, drove a truck for pay and also worked in his family’s insulation business…”

• A new generation of caregivers takes control of kids, By Carol Morello, September 10, 2010, Washington Post: “The number of children being raised by their grandparents has risen sharply since the start of the recession in 2007, according to a new Pew Research Center study that found one in 10 children in the U.S. now lives with a grandparent. The trend was most noticeable among whites, Pew said in its analysis of census data. Those whites who were primary caregivers for their grandchildren rose 9 percent from 2007 to 2008, compared with a 2 percent increase among black grandparents and no change among Hispanics. In all, 2.9 million children are being raised mainly by at least one grandparent, or 4 percent of all children. For most of the decade, the number of children having a grandparent as their primary caretaker rose slowly and steadily, Pew noted. But as the economy soured, the rise was sudden and steep. Three quarters of the 8 percent total increase since 2000 in the number of grandparents raising their children’s kids occurred in the year following the official start of the recession in December 2007…”
• New report: more grandparents raising grandkids, By David Crary (AP), September 9, 2010, Boston Globe: “The number of U.S. children being raised by their grandparents rose sharply as the recession began, according to a new analysis of census data. The reasons, while somber, were not all economic. These grandparents often give themselves high marks as caregivers, but many face distinctive stresses as they confront unanticipated financial burdens and culture shock that come with the responsibilities of child-raising. In all, roughly 7 million U.S. children live in households that include at least one grandparent, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the most recent Census Bureau data, from 2008. Of that number, 2.9 million were being raised primarily by their grandparents — up 16 percent from 2000, with a 6 percent surge just from 2007 to 2008…”

Elderly and disabled put at risk by cuts in home care, By John Leland, July 16, 2010, New York Times: “As states face severe budget shortfalls, many have cut home-care services for the elderly or the disabled, programs that have been shown to save states money in the long run because they keep people out of nursing homes. Since the start of the recession, at least 25 states and the District of Columbia have curtailed programs that include meal deliveries, housekeeping aid and assistance for family caregivers, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a research organization. That threatens to reverse a long-term trend of enabling people to stay in their homes longer…”

• Hawaii’s jobless seniors forced to tap Social Security early, By Mary Vorsino, May 10, 2010, Honolulu Advertiser: “Older Hawai’i workers who have lost jobs in the recession are exhausting unemployment benefits, spending down their nest eggs and turning to Social Security early in a trend that could threaten their long-term financial security and shows how tough the job market is for seniors. New Social Security figures show that the number of Hawai’i residents who signed up for early retirement last year - in many cases after being unable to find new jobs - was up 36 percent from 2005. Meanwhile, state figures show 22 percent of all claimants for unemployment benefits are over 55…”
• Unemployment pushes workers into early retirement, By Tamara Keith, April 28, 2010, National Public Radio: “For some older Americans who lost jobs in the Great Recession, Social Security is filling the void left when unemployment benefits run out. The Social Security Administration had predicted there would be a 15 percent increase in retirement applications last year as baby boomers reached retirement age. Instead, the increase was 20 percent…”

• Medicaid measure clears Florida House, By Marc Caputo, April 20, 2010, Miami Herald: “Large HMOs will have more power than ever in Florida’s growing Medicaid program under a major health-reform package that cleared the House on Monday. The goals are lofty: Stop rampant fraud, reduce skyrocketing costs and improve healthcare for the almost 2.8 million poor, elderly and catastrophically sick Floridians served by Medicaid. The success of the bill hinges on the philosophy that private companies do a better job managing public health benefits than the government or individual Medicaid providers, who see patients on a pay-as-you go basis in what is known as a ‘fee for service’ system. By largely ending fee-for-service, the proposal so fundamentally changes Medicaid that almost every lobby — hospitals, doctors, insurance companies, homes for the developmentally disabled, pharmacists — has voiced concerns…”
• Fla. House ignores own analysts who warn of pushing elderly to managed care, By Stephen Nohlgren, April 20, 2010, St. Petersburg Times: “Elderly Floridians who want to stay out of nursing homes would be forced into managed care under two bills passed Monday by the House in an effort to pare Medicaid costs. But the Legislature’s own policy analysts suggest that managed care may be more expensive for frail older people, based on the track record of HMOs. A recent report examined a managed care program that provides home health care, housekeeping and many other at-home services, as well as assisted living when necessary. It did keep people out of nursing homes but was more expensive than two traditional programs, run by not-for-profit agencies, that cover the same services. The state could save by beefing up the traditional programs, the analysts said. The House bills would do just the opposite - wiping out the traditional programs and putting elderly clients into managed care…”

• Food stamps: Many Utah seniors shun them - or lack information - and admit hunger, By Julia Lyon, April 11, 2010, Salt Lake Tribune: ” Most nights around 5 p.m., Eldon Hendricks walks a few blocks from his Salt Lake City apartment to dine on a burger bargain fit for a retiree’s wallet. At $3.22 for two Arctic Circle burgers, fries and a bottomless drink, the fast food feast is about all his budget allows. This is what it’s like to be old in Utah for thousands of seniors: Eating well is a luxury they can’t afford. Some cross pricey items, such as meat, off the grocery list. Others choose between prescriptions and food, putting their health at risk. But few turn to the federal government’s food stamps program for help while participation in the program by families and middle-aged adults has skyrocketed…”
• Stigma lingers with food assistance program, By Brett Rowland, April 11, 2010, Northwest Herald: “Changes to the federal food assistance program, which is helping more people than ever before, allow some to keep their head up, but the stigma related to using what is commonly known as food stamps lingers. ‘People aren’t so shy anymore,’ said Eric Hendricks, general manager at Wisted’s Super Market in Woodstock. ‘Twenty years ago, they used to come up and whisper that they were using food stamps.’ But things are different now. Congress expanded the program and simplified the rules. ‘More people are accepting because of the economy,’ Hendricks said. ‘A lot more people are out of work and using them.’ In October 2009, 37 million Americans, including 1.5 million Illinois residents, enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a record high for the United States, according to Hunger in America 2010, a study by the Greater Chicago Food Depository and Feeding America…”

Study warns more senior citizens will become homeless, By Anita Creamer, April 6, 2010, Sacramento Bee: “New national research validates an unfortunate trend that Sacramento homeless advocates already see starting to play out: With the huge baby boom generation gradually entering old age, experts are braced for a new population of homeless seniors. In a report released last week, the National Alliance to End Homelessness projects that if current homeless trends remain true, the nation’s population of senior homeless will increase by 33 percent in a decade’s time - and by 50 percent in 2050…”

Weeks after quake, Haiti’s elderly hobble through chaos, By William Booth, March 12, 2010, Washington Post: “It was always hard to be old in Haiti, but after the earthquake, to be old and poor feels like a curse, say those who are both. ‘We struggle to maintain a little dignity, but look at us,’ said Lauranise Gedeon, who sat, embarrassed, in soiled sheets in the ruins of a municipal nursing home here in the capital. Residents were bathed outdoors with a bucket, trying to cover their nakedness. They spent the long, hot afternoons in hospital beds lined up side by side, six to a tent, fanning themselves with pieces of cardboard. They begged for water to drink. ‘No water today. We are waiting. We are waiting for medicines, for the doctors, for God to help us,’ said nurse Yolette François. ‘I am serious. These old people have a lot of troubles.’ Her patients, about 80 men and women, were scooping rice and beans from dented metal bowls. Asked what they need most, one resident said, ‘Something for the flies.’ Another complained that her spoon had been stolen and held up her fingers, sticky with food. ‘Look!…’”

• 2m pensioners live in poverty, says ONS, By Hilary Osborne, January 27, 2010, The Guardian: “The number of pensioners living in poverty in the UK fell by nearly a third in the 10 years to 2007/08, official figures showed today, but there were still an estimated 2 million living below the breadline. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the number of pensioners in poverty had fallen from 2.9 million in 1998/99, but that 2 million were still living on less than 60% of the median UK income after housing costs. The figures also showed that around 1 million people aged over 60 and living alone in England were in fuel poverty in 1997, meaning they had to spend more than 10% of their income on heating. Hefty rises in energy prices in 2008 mean many more pensioners are likely to have fallen into fuel poverty since then…”
• Pensioner poverty ‘drops by a third’, January 27, 2010, BBC News: “Poverty among pensioners shrank by almost a third between 1998-99 and 2007-08, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said. There were 2.9 million poor pensioners 11 years ago, but their number had dropped to two million two years ago. Poverty is officially defined as living on 60% of the average income, once housing costs have been paid. However, the ONS also said that in 2007 one million single person households, aged 60 or over, were in fuel poverty. Fuel poverty is defined as a situation where someone needs to spend at least 10% of their income on heating their home…”

Grandpa does more than baby-sit, By Michael Winerip, December 10, 2009, New York Times: “In May 2006, Tom Kust discovered that his two grandchildren, Monica, then 6, and Nathan, 2, were about to be adopted by a foster-care family in Florida. He had hired a lawyer to help his daughter, the children’s mother, get the children back. But his daughter kept dropping out of rehab programs, unable to shake her addiction to cocaine and heroin. Mr. Kust wanted Monica and Nathan, but grandparents have limited custody rights, their legal status varying state to state. As a result of working full time as a machine shop manager 1,000 miles away here on Long Island, tension with his daughter over her years of drug use and the lack of coordination between social workers in two states, Mr. Kust had trouble tracking his grandchildren’s case…”

Parenting grandparents feel strain, By Catherine Jun, September 23, 2009, Detroit News: “Deborah Stiell has cared for her granddaughter since the girl left the hospital where she was born 22 months ago. When Jaliyah wails in the middle of the night, Stiell gets up, too. ‘Sometimes you get to the point where you feel like you took on a little too much,’ said Stiell, 55, of Detroit, who also cares for two of her other grandchildren. ‘It’s a challenge.’ Stiell is one of thousands of grandparents in Michigan who, after years of raising their own children, find themselves parenting again. Yet several of the dozen or so agencies that help grandparents like Stiell — with the financial and emotional struggle of parenting in their later years — have themselves become strapped. A few are set to close their doors next month as the economic recession has forced a decline in state and foundation dollars…”

Employers: No more break for Utah’s jobless seniors, By Tony Semerad, September 8, 2009, Salt Lake Tribune: “A political clash is brewing over a clause in Utah law that has big implications for the state’s growing population of jobless senior citizens. For the past five years, working Utahns over age 65 laid off through no fault of their own have been able to collect some unemployment benefits in addition to their Social Security retirement checks. But the law is set to expire halfway through 2010, meaning state legislators will have to wade into the controversy when they convene in January. Known on Capitol Hill as ‘the Social Security offset,’ the issue pits the powerful interests of Utah employers - — who pay for unemployment insurance — against those of the growing ranks of elderly Utahns who continue working past retirement age, or who have been forced to return to work after seeing their savings drained by the recession…”

Nearly 1 in 5 older Americans believed to be in poverty _ almost double the official rate, By Hope Yen (AP), September 4, 2009, Grand Forks Herald: “The poverty rate among older Americans could be nearly twice as high as the traditional 10 percent level, according to a revision of a half-century-old formula for calculating medical costs and geographic variations in the cost of living. The National Academy of Science’s formula, which is gaining credibility with public officials including some in the Obama administration, would put the poverty rate for Americans 65 and over at 18.6 percent, or 6.8 million people, compared with 9.7 percent, or 3.6 million people, under the existing measure. The original government formula, created in 1955, doesn’t take account of rising costs of medical care and other factors…”

Even with coverage of two major plans, some Oregonians struggle to get health care, By Andy Dworkin, August 19, 2009, The Oregonian: “Little noticed in the debate on public medical insurance and health reform is a group of 55,000 Oregonians covered by two major public health plans. The so-called ‘dual eligibles’ qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid because they have low incomes and are disabled or over 64. About 9 million Americans have both Medicare and Medicaid, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, and they tend to be poorer, sicker, less educated and more often women or minorities than other citizens. As some Democrats push Congress to create a national public health insurance option, the dual eligibles show both benefits and pitfalls expanded public coverage could bring. On one hand, dual eligibility gives fairly complete insurance to poor, sick people who can’t afford private insurance, and would likely be rejected by most private plans for their existing health problems. But caring for dual eligibles costs upward of $200 billion a year. And some people covered by both plans still have trouble finding doctors or buying prescriptions — proof that expanding insurance coverage isn’t enough to lower costs or improve health care, two other, competing goals of health reform…”

Government extends SeniorCare through 2012, By Stacy Forster, August 18, 2009, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “The federal government will extend SeniorCare, the state’s popular prescription drug program, through 2012, Gov. Jim Doyle said Tuesday. SeniorCare is an alternative to the federal Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage plan for low-income residents aged 65 and older, and it is the only program of its kind in the country. The state program was to end Dec. 31. Doyle and Wisconsin’s congressional delegation had asked President Barack Obama’s administration to extend the program for three years…”

• Benefits system has failed poor pensioners, say MPs, By Phillip Inman, July 30, 2009, The Guardian: “Means-tested benefits have failed to lift more than two million pensioners out of poverty, according to a group of MPs who are calling on the government to make a bigger effort to increase the incomes of poor people in retirement. A further one million pensioners live on less than 50% of average incomes, the report found, highlighting the increasing divide between those over-65s without private savings and workers in generous final salary pensions who can enjoy incomes equal to 80% to 90% of their pre-retirement salary when state benefits are included…”
• Pensioner poverty ‘unacceptable’, July 29, 2009, BBC News: “It is “unacceptable” that two million pensioners in the UK are still living in poverty, a group of MPs says. The Work and Pensions Committee says the figure is a third lower than it was in 1997, but wants ministers to commit to ending pensioner poverty altogether. It is also calling for the benefits system to be simplified for older people and the compulsory retirement age of 65 to be scrapped…”

• Opinions split on how hike in wage affects the economy, By Diane Stafford and Tony Pugh, July 26, 2009, Buffalo News: “The federal minimum wage rose from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour on Friday, bringing with it controversy about whether the increase is good or bad for the economy.  The raise, which affects about 4 million workers nationally, is the third and final increase mandated by Congress in 2007…”
• Raising the bar: Minimum wage hike benefits seniors returning to work, By Vernon Tarver, July 26, 2009, Northwest Arkansas Times: “For minimum wage workers, Friday was a good day indeed. Federal minimum wages increased to $7.25 for employees covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, meaning workers receiving minimum pay in Arkansas can look forward to a 70-cent increase in hourly wages…”
• Minimum wage for tipped workers unchanged since 91, By Tony Pugh, July 24, 2009, Miami Herald: “Friday’s increase in the federal minimum wage left Leanne Foti feeling a little hollow. A single mother of two, Foti works as a waitress at the Bridgewater Diner in Bridgewater, N.J.  So her base pay of $2.13 per hour didn’t budge Friday when the federal minimum wage went from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour.  Foti, 34, is one of roughly 146,000 Americans - many of them restaurant, hotel, car wash and nail salon employees - who are paid mainly through customer tips and therefore earn a lower federal minimum wage, $2.13 an hour…”
• Not everyone sees increase in paychecks, By Rhiannon Meyers, July 26, 2009, Galveston County Daily News: “After 30 years of waiting tables, Paula Baker earns just $1.03 more an hour than she did when she started working in the early 1960s. So although millions of minimum-wage earners received a raise Friday, the League City waitress, who’s been struggling for years to make ends meet, did not…”