Older adults make up much of the city’s population in numbers never seen before, according to a study by the Center for Urban Future.
The study also reveals an alarming rise in the poverty rate among older New Yorkers, and urges Governor Hochul and the state Assembly to increase investments in services for older adults.
Hispanic New Yorkers age 65 and older experience the highest senior poverty rates of any other population group, at 23.5 percent.
The study, titled ‘Keeping Pace with an Aging New York State‘, shows that the population over 65 is on the rise not only in the city but in all corners of the state.
“Older adults are driving population growth in every corner of New York. The time has come for state leaders to make investments that keep pace with this new demographic reality and ensure that older New Yorkers can lead a healthy and financially secure lives,” said Jonathan Bowles, Executive Director of the Center for an Urban Future.
The population of senior citizens in NYC grew by more than 360,000 in the last decade.
In the city, two boroughs each added more than 100,000 older adults in the last decade: Queens (+113,797) and Brooklyn (+104,507).
The study shows that New Yorkers age 65 and older made up more than 16 percent of the total population locally in 2021.
Its current figure is almost one million 370 thousand people.
The report indicates that each county has seen at least a 32 percent increase in its senior population.
Queens has seen the most significant rise at 39 percent, while in Manhattan the increase has been the slowest.
Many of the older adults are immigrants. Currently, 28% of the state’s older adult population has been born abroad, compared to 26% a decade ago.
