A record number of older adults in New York City are facing a deepening financial crisis, marked by rising poverty, limited access to retirement income and stark racial and borough-level inequities, according to a new study.
The study, The Emerging Financial Security Crisis Facing NYC’s Older Adults by the Center for an Urban Future, found that the number of adults ages 65 and older living in poverty has surged by 40.9% over the past decade, rising to 250,901 New Yorkers.
Today, 18.4% percent of older adults across the five boroughs live in poverty, but the older adult poverty rate is even higher in the Bronx, where a quarter of all older adults (24.9% percent) live below the poverty line, and in Brooklyn (20.8%).
In addition, many older New Yorkers appear to have no stable source of retirement income. Among adults in New York City over 70, 59.3% did not report any retirement income. Among the five boroughs, the Bronx (63.6%) holds the highest share of older adults who did not report any retirement income. This is followed by Brooklyn (63.5%), Queens (59%), Manhattan (53.2%), and Staten Island (52.3%).
“More older New Yorkers are working into their 70s, not because they want to – but because they have no choice,” said Jonathan Bowles, Executive Director of the Center for an Urban Future. “It’s alarming how many older New Yorkers are financially insecure and have no savings and no income coming in. Our city must act now to shore up the safety net and invest in the infrastructure that supports aging with dignity.”
The number of Asian older adults living in poverty in Brooklyn grew 74.4% and poverty among Hispanic older adults increased 28.8%. In contrast, poverty among white older adults declined by 5.8%.
The study gave a comprehensive look at older New Yorkers in every borough. In Brooklyn, the analysts found that:
- Brooklyn experienced a 33.6% percent increase in its older adult population over the past decade, rising from 296,561 in 2013 to 396,084 in 2023.
- Older adults now represent 15% of the borough’s population, up from 11.7%.
- Overall, 20.8% of older adults live in poverty, down from 22.1% in 2013. Brooklyn was one of the only counties to see a decline in the share of its older adults in poverty.
- Poverty rates are highest among Hispanic older adults (27.5%), followed by Asian older adults (26.9%), white older adults (19.1%) and Black older adults (18.2%).
- Immigrant older adults face a poverty rate of 24.1%, while U.S.-born adults face a poverty rate of 16.6%.
- Working older adults rose 98.9%, increasing from 34,277 in 2013 to 68,171 in 2023. Fully 17.2% of older adults are employed, up from 11.6% in 2013.
- Asian older adults experienced the most significant increase in employment, growing by 158.6%. Asian older adults also saw dramatic growth in self-employment, rising by 166.4%.
- Among working adults, 16.7% are self-employed.
- Among adults over 70, 63.5% did not report any retirement income, the second-highest share of any county or city analyzed. Fully 20.4% of older adults did not report social security income, while 14.6% reported supplemental security income, more than any other county or city analyzed.
