The poverty rate among seniors rose for the fifth straight year in 2025, "a trend no other age group experienced," according to an AARP Foundation analysis of a new Census Bureau report.
AARP Foundation finds women are far more likely than men to age into poverty, and the trend starts earlier as low-income older adults struggle to stay employed and save up in the crucial years before retirement.
"We are seeing people 50 to 64, by every single measure, in a more precarious position," said Claire Casey, president of AARP Foundation, which is the philanthropic affiliate of AARP.
One in eight Americans in that age group now lives in poverty, "and a lot more are just above that line," she said. "And those are folks who are not able really to put anything aside for their future because they're thinking about how am I going to get food on the table? How am I going to afford my housing?"
The poverty rate is even higher among those 65 and over, at 15.4% – and nearly 17% for women. That includes 3 million additional seniors since 2019. The AARP's analysis is based on a supplemental measure of poverty, which accounts for taxes, government benefits and additional expenses.
The rise bucks a larger trend that saw poverty fall to a record low in 2025. The average U.S. family also made more money last year. The Trump administration and its supporters touted those numbers.
"Senate Republicans remain committed to lowering costs and making the American Dream more affordable and accessible," Bernadette Breslin with the National Republican Senatorial Committee said in a statement.
Casey agreed the latest Census figures are worth celebrating, but added "those gains were not shared equally." And analysts warn the gains may already be undermined by social safety net cuts and rising prices.
Many struggle despite working, often more than one job
The Census data is from last year, and a lot has changed in the economy since then, including inflation and rising gas prices after the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran. AARP Foundation surveys low-income older adults every quarter to track more closely how people are coping.
In the latest results from this summer, nearly a third said their household ran out of food before they had money to buy more. A third also said they did not have enough savings to cover an emergency expense of $100, up from 28% in the Spring.
From its spring survey, the foundation, which did not name its respondents, cited an unnamed man over 65: "I bought less food and used that money to pay the increase in my rent that went up by 33% at the beginning of this year to pay for the renovations taking place."
Census data shows Social Security kept nearly 29 million people out of poverty last year. The group struggling the most in the AARP Foundation survey is adults aged 50-64, including nearly a third who reported a significant drop in household income in the previous three months.
What could be a "small crisis for many of us, like your car breaking down or having to take some time off to care for a relative," can be devastating for an older low-income worker, Casey said. "You're much more likely to end up in the long-term unemployed, and you're much more likely to end up in a job that makes less than the one you were in."
The number of employed older adults who reported at least one additional source of paid work also ticked up this year, to nearly two-thirds, "suggesting many are adapting to ongoing cost pressures by piecing together multiple income sources," the Foundation report said.
Financial strain could grow with changes to the safety net
The surveys and Census data reflect growing concern as America's population ages rapidly amid financial pressures.
Half of the oldest women who head households – and 60% of those who rent – are burdened by high housing costs, according to Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies. Such women, on average, have lower income than men, and that gap increases with age. Federal data also finds older adults are the fastest-growing homeless population.
Older adults are also among those subject to newly expanded work requirements for food assistance and Medicaid. So far, as the requirements and other program changes roll out, enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has dropped by an estimated five million people, according to the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Republicans say the changes are reducing fraud. But Casey and others worry that added paperwork will push off many who qualify for the aid. That could make it even harder for some to save up for retirement in what are typically peak-earning years, leaving them more dependent on Social Security.
"Too many older Americans and frankly, too many Americans writ large, are working full-time jobs or more and not making above what you could consider a decent wage," Casey said. "That is something that we, I think, as a society, have to grapple with."
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