Black seniors twice as likely as whites to be in poverty

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According to a recent study, black senior citizens are disproportionately finding themselves in poverty. A study using recent Census data noted that from 2007 to 2009, 31.6 percent of blacks were in the bottom 25 percent income group for U.S. earners. This trend combined with lower rates of employer-based retirement plans, contributes to many black seniors in poverty or living on fixed incomes.

Some 19.4 percent of black and 19.0 percent of Latino seniors have incomes below the federal poverty line, compared to 9.4 percent for the senior population overall, according to the analysis, which is based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey and U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.

“Recent household surveys show that retirees of color, especially blacks and Latinos, rely more heavily on Social Security and have less access to other types of retirement income than their white counterparts,” researcher Nari Rhee of UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education, said in a statement.

Less than one-third of employed Latinos and less than half of black workers are covered by an employer-sponsored retirement plan, a key resource in ensuring adequate retirement income. As a result, they are disproportionately reliant on the limited income provided by Social Security, the report found.

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