Study Shows Growing Number of Ethnic Elders in Financial Crisis

http://newamericamedia.org/2011/08/study-shows-growing-number-of-ethnic-elders-in-financial-crisis.php

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—In a dismal week when the most positive economic news for the United States was Friday’s federal data showing anemic employment gains, the plight of ethnic elders looks “even worse than we thought it would be,” according to Henoch Derbew, coauthor of a new report, “The Economic Crisis Facing Seniors of Color.”

“While the recession has affected all American, the effects have been truly devastating for Latinos, African Americans and Asian Americans hoping to retire with some dignity,” said Preeti Vissa, director of community reinvestment at the Greenlining Institute in Berkeley, Calif., which released the study Friday.

At a time when Congress and the president are considering cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, she said the report shows that federal and state governments need to take steps to protect lower-income seniors and “to immediately take off the table any proposal that will plunge our most vulnerable elders into poverty.”

:snip:

• Even before the 2008 recession, a key study found that 91% of African American and Latino seniors are financially vulnerable, while overall figures showing lower poverty levels for older Asian Americans “mask hidden pockets of poverty,” such as among Hmong, Korean or Cambodian seniors;

More at the link --