More seniors sank into poverty for the fifth straight year in 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's annual poverty report.
The poverty rate for Americans ages 65 and up jumped in 2025 to 15.4%, the highest poverty rate of all age groups based on the supplemental poverty measure (SPM). SPM includes non-cash benefits but subtracts necessary expenses such as taxes and medical care, and is considered a better measure of poverty trends and the effectiveness of government benefits programs than the official poverty measure. The overall SPM rate for all Americans was 13.1%, up from 13%.
For the past 16 years, the cost of Social Security’s retirement program has exceeded the amount it receives from taxes collected from paychecks, forcing it to dip into its retirement trust fund reserve to cover the shortfall. Last year, the trust fund was forecast to run out in 2033. Then, in August, the date was moved up to the end of 2032 because of tax provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that passed a little more than a year ago.
If Congress doesn't act and allows the trust fund to empty, the program will pay out only what the government collects in taxes. On average, beneficiaries would lose about $500 a month, the nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Budget estimates.
"This would be devastating to older adults, and especially low-income older adults who don’t have any other income or resources to fall back on," said Tracey Thomas Gronniger, managing director of economic security and housing at national nonprofit legal advocacy organization Justice in Aging. "Congress has time to act, but if they don’t, many low-income seniors could be pushed into poverty."
