Current Aging/Older Adult Issues in society
Financial Security of Elderly Americans at Risk
“Where there is not community, trust, respect, ethical behavior are difficult for the young to learn and for the old to maintain.” (k, Robert 2014). The elderly has been suffering for a long time, without the youth having knowledge about this subject. As a youth, I would have never thought that the older adults struggle. They work all their life to struggle at the end, it just doesn’t make sense. It bothers me because I will get there one day, my parents, or my kids. Knowing this worries me because I don’t want to struggle, especially when I am older, which I will need more assistance than ever before. However, how would someone conquer assistance without any money or help from your families. It’s a nightmare; I can’t imagine what they’re going through. The elderly survive of social security, health insurance, or savings, which is not enough to survive in this society. Eight Hundred a month is not enough for rent, utilities, food, hospitals bills, insurance, or medicine. Now the real big issue is that there have been announcements that there will be changes to social security and Medicare, which will make the majority of seniors economically vulnerable. This means their they are trying to take away Medicare and social security from older adults. What are they suppose to live off, how does the future looks for our next generation of seniors?
The elderly population is increasing, day by day. In the article it states, nearly half (48.o percent) of the elderly population in the United States is “economically vulnerable” , defined as having an income that is less than two times the supplemental poverty threshold (a poverty line more comprehensive than the traditional federal poverty line). This equates to roughly 19.9 million economically vulnerable seniors. ( C, D 2015 ). The older adults are already not in a stable situation and now they want to take away Medicare and social security. What are they supposed to do, some seniors don’t have any family or friends to take care of them. Senior homes/ nursing homes, are expensive to stay in and with no income, there’s going to be a lot of homeless older adults. This situation is happening all over the world, there are not enough costs/ income to care for the elderly. Is It is sad to see the older adults struggle, they have committed their whole life to the united United states States by working all those years, and now that their they are seniors they’re not important. This is insane, everyone is important; seniors now need help to survive.
This affects society and our communities because families have to take care of their grandparents, even though their struggling to take care of themselves. Is It is a lot of money to accommodate all those generations into one house? As is stated in the article,” The number of persons age 65 or older in the world is expected to expand from an estimated 495 million in 2009 to 974 in 2030”.( C,D 2015 ) Therefore, the older adults populations is increasing, who will be working to take care of that large population. Social security is going to crash, because the money is running out. Medicare is also being canceled, which is a huge healthcare provider. We all need to have health insurance, especially when you are an older adult whom whose body starts shutting down and they get affected by diseases and sicknesses. Hospital bills are not a joke, for one visit to the doctor is 300 dollars or more. Which is almost a person’s rent, not including the treatment or medication.
Something that could be a solution or improve the issue is to make a stand. We should all come together and protest for our older adults. We are the reason the government is what it is today. If there is nobody protesting or not saying anything about an issue, there just going to keep doing whatever they want to us. Or maybe have the elderly work maybe in an office, and to keep them working we can offer them a lower rent, or discounted transportation. The government spends their money on things that doesn’t benefit us, how does making millions of jails and destroying schools helps us. They are big businesses that are making big money, they should help the economy. The government should make requirements to big companies to invest into the society, instead of giving them tax breaks. This will maybe bring society back in place, and help the elderly stand on their own two feet. Helping families’ income, and now the older adults won’t be left behind.
Work Cited Page
C, D. (2015, September/October). Financial Security of Elderly Americans at Risk: Proposed changes to Social Security and Medicare could make a majority of seniors 'economically vulnerable' Retrieved March 23, 2016, from http://www.epi.org/publication/economic-security-elderly-americans-risk/
K, R. (2014, May/June). Quotes About Elderly. Retrieved March 23, 2016, from http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/elderly
