We all understand San Diego is an expensive place to live. Since 2019, San Diego rent has increased 41%, or $658 a month, for a one-bedroom apartment according to an August 2024 LendingTree study. Residents are feeling the economic heat.
Thousands of older adults already struggling financially are experiencing severe consequences, including the increasing threat of homelessness. At Serving Seniors we see this daily as low-income and homeless adults over age 55 take part in our meal programs and other services.
Our clients depend both on nonprofit organizations and public assistance programs like Medi-Cal to survive until they can file for Social Security. But it’s not enough.
Currently, federal poverty level guidelines created in the 1960s determine whether seniors are eligible for government assistance programs. Today in 2024, they have little relevance, especially in high-cost areas like San Diego. As a result, seniors living in poverty are shocked to learn they “make too much” income to quality for help.
The Social Security Administration announced that the cost-of-living adjustment for 2025 will be 2.5%. This is the smallest COLA since 2021, when it was 1.3%. The average increase in monthly benefits for retired workers will be about $50.
The COLA is one of two important parameters that the SSA uses to determine Social Security payments. The other parameter is the national average wage index. The SSA publishes the automatically increased amounts in the Federal Register in late October.
The COLA increase since 2019:
- 2025 — 2.5%
- 2024 — 3.2%
- 2023 — 8.7%
- 2022 — 5.9%
- 2021 — 1.3%
- 2020 — 1.6%
- 2019 — 2.8%
The federal poverty level for a single person household in 2024 is $15,060. The Department of Health and Human Services issues the poverty guidelines, which are simplified versions of the poverty thresholds. The guidelines do not vary by the age of adults or number of children in a family, but they do vary by geography.
This is the figure used as a baseline qualification. Does anyone believe you can live in San Diego County on this amount of money? Even when older adults can begin receiving Social Security at age 62, they still suffer financial insecurity.
Experts in gerontology and public policy have developed a more accurate measure of poverty. The Elder Economic Security Standard Index, or “Elder Index,” uses data from the U.S. Census and Department of Housing and Urban Development to produce real-world guideline which also consider regional costs of living.
University of Massachusetts Boston professor Jan Mutchler has studied the cost of living for older adults since 2020. She created the Elder Index, which looks at the typical expenses incurred by older adults which are different from the general population, and calculates their cost increases and eroding financial security.
According to the Elder Index, the average minimum income needed by an older American is $29,748 — twice the federal poverty threshold.
In high income areas like San Diego, things are much worse. The Elder Index calculates the minimum annual income for an older adult in good health as $37,428 to avoid poverty in the San Diego metropolitan area. The “gap” to meet his or her basic needs is $7,680.
In every U.S. county measured, no matter the state or metro area, the Elder Index is higher than the average Social Security payment, meaning Social Security cannot meet basic living expenses. This should be unacceptable to everyone.
Some communities have made progress in providing more subsidized housing and more generous nutrition programs to offset food costs, like the programs offered through Serving Seniors, supported through government funding, private grants, and the generosity of our many donors. Other programs help people pay their basic utilities or property taxes. But people need to know about them and be able to access them.
At a basic level, continuing to support or raise support for Medicare to help older people pay their health expenses is a must. Serving Seniors supports efforts to replace the federal poverty level with the Elder Index when calculating Social Security cost of living increases.
San Diegans recently named homelessness and affordable housing as their top issues of concern. This is a problem we can solve by focusing on prevention.
Of the 400 low-income and homeless older adults surveyed for our needs assessment study, more than half (56%) of those interviewed report an additional $300 or less of monthly income would prevent loss of housing due to falling behind on rent.
We must adjust our current approach to keep older individuals from losing their current housing, which is far more cost effective than providing support services once someone becomes homeless. Replacing the unrealistic federal guidelines with the Elder Index provides another vital tool in the fight against homelessness.
Paul Downey is CEO of Serving Seniors, a San Diego-based nonprofit that helps seniors in poverty live healthy and fulfilling lives.
