In 1983, defined-benefit pensions peaked in America. Now, exactly 40 years later, the fastest growing group of the unhoused are people in their mid-60s. Coincidence? Probably not.
Here are a few things Alex and Holly have learned in the year since they lost their apartment and started sleeping in their 2005 Ford Explorer:
But Alex and Holly are both 62 and, because of their age, they’re part of a painful demographic trend – homeless retirees. Eve Garrow, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union who tracks homelessness issues in Southern California, describes the aging of the unhoused as “the next phase” in America’s broad demographic shift to an older population.
“In a few years, the number of old people who are homeless, out on streets and in shelters, is going to be big. We’ll all know an aunt or a sister or somebody who is living in a shelter or on the streets,” Leon said.Roy, a 61-year-old who used to make medical devices, and who needs a cane or a walker to get around, stands in the driveway of the motel where he is staying in Orange, on Thursday, June 29, 2023.
“People like to look at you and judge,” Roy said. “Without them talking, you know what they’re thinking. , the most recent version of a national poll conducted periodically by the Federal Reserve Board. Even when focusing on workers closer to retirement – people ages 50 to 60 – the survey findings were stark; more than 40% in that age range had nothing set aside for retirement and only 30% had as much as $100,000. About 12.5% had $500,000.
“These don’t let me get into or out of a forklift anymore,” he said. “And, no, I didn’t have no 401 or whatever.” “And I’d say all that’s a joke,” said Alex from his front seat near an Anaheim park, when asked about the price to move out of his car and into a place to live.
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