Inequality+in+America's+Eldery+Population

**There are many inequalities of America’s elderly population. Currently, the poverty rate for America’s elderly is 9.8%. That’s extremely high compared to other countries. And 16% of people over 60 years of age are considered poor. People may think that being elderly is easy. All they have to do is sit around and watch TV. They don’t have to work or worry about homework. That’s true, they don’t have to work and they don’t have to worry about homework. However, they do have to pay more taxes than people of a younger age. This causes them to struggle with money and are in greater risk of going into poverty. Because they worked longer and have lived in a house longer than a lot of other people, their taxes are increased. Even though the elderly have to pay a lot more for health care and housing, the federal government thinks that older people require less money to live. Congress is trying to get a law passed that will end up shutting down over 100 nursing homes across America. Most people don’t know about it because this story is being covered up by the occupy Wall Street protesting. Without these nursing home many people will be homeless and won’t get the assistance that they need. In the early 1800's, elderly were well respected and looked up too. They had the highest paying jobs and were loved by everyone. They were known to know the most information and have the most common sense. Today, the elderly are a minority. This is because when people started to research the elderly, the studies focused on people with destroyed mental and physical capacities. (People with Alzheimer and dementia). Because of this study, elderly were labeled as weak and not financially supported. Therefore they were considered a minority. There are many programs that help the elderly from getting close to poverty. For example, the American Association of Retired Persons, or AARP. This program is for people 50 years or older. It helps the elderly get access to health insurance, automobile insurance, and homeowners insurance. It also gives them great discounts with traveling, online services and telephone devices . The elderly are a big part of our society and will remain a big part of society even though they are considered a minority. **

**Below are three video's talking about the inequalities in america's elderly population:** [] [] []
 * The first picture below is of a road sign saying this this is a place were elderly would cross the street. These signs are mostly around senior homes and elderly neighborhoods. The next picture is of the AARP symbol. AARP is a program that helps prevent elderly Americans from going into debt and and helps them get out of poverty. The picture below shows a nurse assisting an elderly lady in a nursing home. This shows that the elderly do need help and it is important for there to be nursing homes. Without nursing homes, some people might not have anywhere to go and they wont get the help that they need. **



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 * Below are three websites that talk about different stuggles that elderly Amerian's are having: **

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 * Below is an article showing that the elderly have many inequalities: **
 * Below is a chart that shows how many elderly citizens are in each state. Most elderly Americans live in the middle of the U.S because in those few states they have less inequalities. The states that are yellow are states that have laws that cause a lot of inequalitity and many struggles for elderly. **
 * This is a chart that shows how America's elders spend their money. It shows that as you get older, you have to spend more money on healthcare and housing and cannot spend as much on food and other necessities. **