Long Island's elderly population is growing, and so is the group's poverty rate, report finds

Long Island had the largest growth in its senior population over the past decade, surpassing all other areas of the state, outside of New York City, and a rising percentage face poverty, according to a new study.

Jonathan Bowles, the study's co-author and executive director of the Center for an Urban Future, a New York City-based public policy think tank, said in interview on Thursday: "There is a fast-aging population on Long Island. ... We have a bunch of new data points in this report that really show they are struggling to make ends meet."

Among the findings of the report, which is based on U.S. Census Bureau 2013 and 2023 surveys:

• Long Island had an estimated 520,068 people age 65 and older in 2023, a 24% increase since 2013.
• Overall, the poverty rate for the Island's 65-and-over population was 6.2%, up from 4.7% a decade earlier and 17.8% of the Island's population was 65 or older in 2023, up from 14.8% in 2013.
• Over the past decade, the number of older adults in poverty increased "a concerning 62%."           

The poverty level of the 65-and-older population varied by race and ethnicity, according to the report. The number of Hispanic older adults increased 128% between 2013 and 2023, followed by Asians, who saw an increase of 66.6%, whites by 51.6% and Blacks by 26.1%.

And just over 10% of Long Islanders age 70 and older did not report any Social Security income, while just 4.1% reported supplemental income. "Nearly half of all older Long Island residents report no retirement income from other sources," the report said.

Long Island's high cost of living

Bowles said many of the elderly worked in "low to moderate wage fields ... that didn’t afford them enough income to put money away every year for retirement. Add to that the staggering inflation we’ve seen across the New York region — everything from housing to electricity, to cable and phone bills. The cost of living here is astronomical."

In a statement, New York State AARP executive director Beth Finkel said: "Too many Long Islanders are struggling to make ends meet as they age. With more than a third of Nassau and Suffolk residents now over 50, the challenges are only growing. ... Nearly half have no retirement savings, poverty among older adults in Long Island has climbed, and family caregivers, the backbone of our long-term care system, are stretched thin."

The AARP provided financial support to the center for its report.

Vanessa Baird Streeter, president and CEO of the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island, said in a statement: "Long Island’s older adults are facing a quiet emergency — caught between rising living costs, insufficient retirement income, and limited access to affordable housing and healthcare." She added: "The promise of aging with dignity is under threat."

Paule T. Pachter, president and CEO of Long Island Cares, a Hauppauge-based food bank, said: "What we’ve been seeing now for nearly a decade is the deterioration of the quality of life for many seniors on Long Island who are financially struggling." He said between January and July, "We served 25,876 seniors at our [six] satellite locations. On any given month we are seeing close to 4,000 seniors coming to Long Island Cares for food assistance."

When food bank workers deliver food to seniors in their homes, Pachter said, they notice homes that are in need of repair. "What's going to happen next year to those seniors who receive Medicaid and SNAP and lose those benefits?" as a result of the new budget bill passed this year, he said.

By Olivia Winslow

olivia.winslow@newsday.com@newsollie