There are now several gay senior housing projects in various stages of development in Seattle, Boston, and Florida. While such developments are welcome, most units will only be accessible to upper-income people. The housing needs of rural, poor and middle-income gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender elders can best be addressed by making senior housing gay-friendly and either adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the Fair Housing Act of 1968 or passing a federal nondiscrimination law that covers housing as well as employment. (more…)

It is difficult to see someone suffer when others have plenty. Civilized societies deplore that scenario and establish programs to lessen that suffering. That is the underlying basis of many government programs that provide economic security for the elderly; it makes good policy sense, which is why the Social Security program is strongly supported by a large majority of the population. (more…)

The economic status of older adults in the United States today is greatly improved, and there is much diversity of circumstances among different elder populations. In 2004 inflation-adjusted dollars, the median income of elderly households had increased from $13,228 in 1960 to $24,509 in 2004. Since the mid-1950s, poverty, as measured in 2005 by the U.S. Census Bureau’s poverty thresholds, has decreased for all age groups but most noticeably for adults age 65 years and older. (more…)