ABSTRACT
The most common representation of the relationship between aging and poverty is to compare the poverty rates of three major age groups—children, working age and older adults. Poverty for most began to decline markedly with the passing of the Social Security Act of 1935, which brought support to older adults and families with children and created the social insurance program. The process of aging alone can subject an older individual to and trap them in poverty as their savings diminish, pensions erode, and their dependence on fixed Social Security income deepens. With limited fixed income, poor older adults are vulnerable to economic insecurity, which means that they do not have the financial ability to absorb economic shocks. The risk of economic insecurity for older adults as they age is particularly high for women. Many persons living in and moving to rural areas are adults age 65 or older.
