Public Policy and Elderly Minorities
The purpose of this paper is to summarize the social and economic problems particularly affecting elderly minorities and critically examine related areas of public policy which were supposed to assist with their needs during the past three decades. Additional examples of public policy significantly impacting elderly minorities will also be reviewed.
The problems impacting elderly minorities, particularly in major U.S. urban areas, include many which face other demographic groups below the age of 65: income and employment, housing, medical care and nursing home care and educational opportunities. These areas of critical need are often exacerbated in the case of people who have entered the United States as non-English-speaking, elderly minorities (such as many thousands of Hispanic immigrants from Mexico and Central America and Asian immigrants from South Vietnam) as well as native American Indians and first-generation immigrants from around the world. The language and cultural differences of many elderly minorities often delay the progress they might otherwise make in meeting their basic needs and those of their families, whether on their own initiative or with public assistance. The significance of such minority needs is best illustrated by the volume of Hispanic and Asian immigrants entering California, where since 1975 immigration has accounted for practically all the population growth beyond natural increase since 1975 (Muller and Espenshade, 1985, p. 1).
The range of federal and local programs which serve elderly (and elderly minority) citizens is extensive. These include:
Cash support for income, including old age, survivors, and disability insurance (OASDI), unemployment insurance, public assistance, veteran's pensions, and worker's compensation. These programs are primarily for persons outside an existing or eligible workforce. Even though benefits received from program...