American elderly under the pressure of increasing poverty

The increase in poverty among Americans aged 65 and older has undermined the effectiveness of increasing Social Security benefits.

According to Ambassador Arjan's report, despite a 3.6% increase in social security benefits in 2027, more Americans aged 65 and older have fallen into poverty in recent years; A situation that has raised concerns about the adequacy of these benefits to cover the living expenses of the elderly.

According to the announcement of the American Social Security Administration (SSA), the recipients of the social security benefits of this organization, who are mostly 65 years of age or older, will experience a 3.6 percent increase in the amounts they receive in 2027, and the interesting thing is that this adjustment was announced immediately after the release of the September inflation report on Wednesday.

According to AARP calculations, this increase is more than the 2.8 percent growth in benefits in 2026 and means about a $900 annual increase for recipients; A figure that equates to an average increase of $75 per monthly payment.

However, the increase in benefits may have a limited impact on the actual cost of living, as more Americans age 65 and older have fallen into poverty in the past few years after taking into account factors such as taxes and government programs and rising costs of living.

According to the US Census Bureau, social security alone is a powerful program to deal with poverty and has saved nearly 21 million elderly Americans from absolute poverty, and for many of these people, social security is not only a way out of poverty, but also a vital financial artery.

An August AARP survey of 1,085 Americans age 50 and older found that just over half of Social Security recipients consider Social Security their primary source of income. Also, 82 percent of those who depended heavily on these benefits said that the payments help cover basic living expenses, including housing, food and health care, but they are worried about how they will make ends meet with inflation rising in recent months.

This is while the consumer price index, which measures price changes, is known as the main factor in determining the increase in social security payments by the authorities, and the increase in the amount of social security assistance has been calculated based on the increase in prices in the third quarter of this year compared to the same period last year for city workers and administrative employees.

Meanwhile, the Social Security Organization announced: From November, it will inform people of the amount of next year's benefits through its online portal, and experts in this field believe that such a point could be due to the possibility of an increase in the inflation rate and living costs in the future, which obliges the Social Security Organization to provide more cash assistance.

Worrying about reducing the ability to pay the fund

Along with rising elderly poverty, there are also concerns about Social Security's ability to pay full benefits in the coming years. According to the latest calculations of the Board of Trustees of this fund, if its financial resources are not secured and strengthened, the Pension and Survivors Insurance Fund will not be able to fully pay the benefits from the end of 2032.