ABSTRACT
In 1959, poverty among the elderly was greater than 30% (Figure 34). By providing indexed income and medical care through Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, the poverty rate among Americans over the age of 65 declined to 10% in 2003. More than any single effort, Social Security has meant some measure of economic security for millions of American elderly (Photo 1). Vintage image from the birth of the Social Security Act https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315786742/910b0880-f116-4242-83a5-ce6f3fa7dc6c/content/photo_1_B.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> Poverty status of people by age, 1959–2003 https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315786742/910b0880-f116-4242-83a5-ce6f3fa7dc6c/content/fig_34_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
