Category
Economic Security
New Elder Index report finds high levels of economic insecurity among Massachusetts’ older residents
Massachusetts is home to the nation’s highest percentage of older adults living alone who are unable to afford basic necessities without extra assistance, according to new research from UMass Boston’s Gerontology Institute. Nearly three-fifths, or 57 percent, of adults age… Continue Reading →
A new analysis by the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston and the National Council on Aging finds that 80 percent of older Americans—47 million—continue to be unable to sustain a financial shock such as needing to pay for long-term care… Continue Reading →
Researchers Marc Cohen and Jane Tavares know how crucial federal programs such as Medicaid health insurance and SNAP food assistance are for the most vulnerable older adults. “Our social safety nets are keeping so many people afloat,” says Tavares, a… Continue Reading →
New estimates from the Gerontology Institute at UMass Boston find that millions of older adults, especially those living alone, continue to live on incomes that fall below the Elder IndexTM, a county-by-county measure of the income needed by adults aged… Continue Reading →
By Marc Cohen, Caitlin Coyle, James Hermelbracht, Edward Alan Miller, Jan Mutchler, and Anna-Marie Tabor Older adults are the fastest-growing segment of the American population. In Massachusetts, adults 65 and older will make up nearly a quarter of the Commonwealth’s… Continue Reading →
Jane Tavares, PhD ‘18, always saw herself working with older people. Her Portuguese grandparents lived with her when she was growing up, so she watched them age and saw her family members pitch in with their care. Thinking she’d end… Continue Reading →
Doctoral student Molly Wylie named inaugural fellow for 2022-23. The National Council on Aging (NCOA) and the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston have partnered to create an Equity in Aging Research Fellowship. The one-year graduate research position supports both organizations’… Continue Reading →
Yung-Ping “Bing” Chen, professor emeritus of gerontology at UMass Boston, passed away on May 10, 2022. Widely recognized for his work on economic security for the aged, Bing Chen had a distinguished career in academia and as a government adviser…. Continue Reading →
The National Council on Aging’s Equity in Aging Collaborative will work with the Gerontology Institute to train advocates on using the Elder Index for more accurate, regionally specific benchmarks of economic security. Nearly a quarter of all Americans age 65… Continue Reading →
Economists say baby boomers age 70 and older hold the greatest wealth of any generation to date. Increasingly, that wealth is the target of financial fraud, or scams. During the pandemic, as older people are relying increasingly on telephones and… Continue Reading →
