More Local Elders Are Working Longer, Getting By on Little Income, and Living in Poverty
Lower Manhattan is home to a growing population of older adults who are increasingly struggling with poverty, according to a statistical analysis from the Center for an Urban Future (CUF), a public policy think tank. This report, titled “The Emerging Financial Security Crisis Facing New York City’s Older Adults,” examines demographics for elders throughout the five boroughs. At the Broadsheet’s request, CUF’s data researcher Rachel Neches broke down these findings in specific terms for Lower Manhattan – defined here as Community Districts 1 and 2, which means roughly the area south of a jagged line formed by West 14th Street, the Bowery, Canal Street, and the Brooklyn Bridge. (For devotees of statistical data, this zone corresponds to Public Use Microdata Area [PUMA] 3810, as designated by the U.S. Census, one of 55 such catchments throughout New York City.)
CUF’s study indicates in the decade that ended in 2023, older adults (defined as those aged 65 or above) increased as a share of the local population from 10.8 percent to 13.9 percent, rising in absolute numbers from 15,991 in 2013 to 21,915 ten years later. During the same interval, the share of this local cohort living in poverty rose numerically from 1,608 to 2,051, but declined slightly in proportional terms (10.1 percent of all elders in 2013 to 9.4 percent in 2023).
This nominal decline in poverty is belied by a shift in the local workforce. The share of older adults residing in Lower Manhattan who are still employed rose from 28.5 percent in 2013 (or 4,477 people) to 36.5 percent in 2023 (or 7,999 people). This is double the share for New York City as a whole. Among Lower Manhattan elders still in the workforce, fully one-third identify as self-employed, compared to 19.5 percent citywide. It is possible to infer from these metrics that more local elders may be employed past the traditional retirement age simply because they have no choice. As the CUF report notes, “many are likely working out of necessity, struggling to keep up with rising costs and inadequate retirement savings.”