Senior poverty hits highest level in years as Social Security faces deadline - KLBK | KAMC | EverythingLubbock.com

That rate sat at 9.4% in 2020. Now it covers more than 10 million people age 65 and older nationwide. Every other age group saw poverty dip in 2021 before ticking back up, but seniors are the only group where the number has climbed every single year since 2020, and their jump was the steepest of any group measured.

The numbers come from the Census Bureau's supplemental poverty measure, which factors in medical costs, housing, and other expenses that the standard poverty measure leaves out. That matters because it captures how far a fixed income actually stretches once rent, prescriptions, and utility bills eat into it.

For older folks in Lubbock living on Social Security, this data lands at an uneasy moment. The program so many retirees depend on to cover the basics is approaching a funding deadline, and five years of rising senior poverty suggests the safety net is already fraying before that deadline even arrives.

Retirees on fixed incomes are watching their purchasing power shrink year over year while everyone else's poverty numbers bounce back.