45 Years of Helping Seniors Age in Place. What's Next? Economic Security

A move is underway to make economic security an explicit part of the Older Americans Act.

The Elder Economic Security Initiative™ is an exciting new initiative that seeks to build economic security for older adults through a multi-pronged approach that includes organizing, advocacy and research. The Initiative enables policy makers, aging advocates and others to develop policies promoting their economic security.

A key component of the initiative is the Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index, a measure of well-being that determines the income and supports needed for older adults to live modestly depending on their health and life circumstances. The Elder Index benchmarks basic costs of living for elder households. It illustrates how costs of living vary geographically and are based on the characteristics of elder households: household size, homeownership or renter, mode of transportation, and health status. The costs are for basic needs of elder households; they are based on market costs and do not assume any subsidies.