Report: LGBTQ+ Elders Far More at Risk of Poverty, Isolation

Financial security later in life isn't just a matter of saving money. There's a complex of social and familial factors involved, as well, according to Nasdaq.

"Retirement, aging, and end-of-life experience can be expensive, to say the least," the site noted. "Increased risks for isolation and heightened caregiving needs point to a more expensive aging process for LGBTQIA+ adults in the U.S."

The reportage is based on an assessment of information gleaned by UCLA's Williams Institute "from the U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey, analyzing the lives and realities of LGBT older adults," the site relayed. "The insights they reported were striking, particularly when it came to the financial and isolation risks that were higher by far for the LGBT community."

Finance and personal connection, the article pointed out, are intertwined, especially in terms of family support.

"LGBT older adults in the U.S. are twice as likely to be single than straight/cisgender older adults," the writeup specified, adding that "Living alone can be isolating for anyone, but in older age, the expenses and risks inherent to living alone increase."

"Compounding this isolation risk is the fact that LGBTQ older adults are three to four times less likely to have children than straight/cisgender older adults," the site went on to add.

"This, coupled with the heightened probability of familial alienation of LGBT family members, means a greater likelihood that the caregiving and financial safety net provided by adult children and extended family is more likely to be absent for LGBT elders in the U.S." – despite, the report pointed out, statistics that show that the lion's share of "caregiving functions for their own parents" falls on the shoulders of LGBTQ+ people, a situation that is all the more inequitable since "a person's inability to receive caregiving support from their family poses not only a risk, but a potentially large financial burden."

Though financial preparation is not the only factor in this disturbing picture, it is a major consideration, particularly given the greater likelihood that LGBTQ+ elders have of being isolated and lacking familial support.

The writeup took note of a study from the Employee Benefit Research Institute that "found that LGBTQ Americans are less confident that they will have enough so that they can live comfortably in retirement than straight and cisgender Americans."

"Even when narrowed to upper-income respondents, 89% of non-LGBTQ Americans reported confidence in their retirement savings while only 76% of LGBTQ respondents felt the same."

"Based on what we've learned," the report summarized, "it seems that LGBTQIA+ aging and retirement planning has a likelihood of being more expensive than it might be for our straight and cisgender peers."

This comes on top of a well-documented pay gap that leaves LGBTQ+ workers with less money in the first place.

Also well-documented are the health care disparities encountered by LGTBQ+ people – disparities that only grow more serious with age because they can result in older people who need more medical attention getting lower-quality care or being reluctant to seek care out.