Senior Hunger Surges as Boomers Swell the Ranks of the Nation's Seniors

A study from the Feeding America food bank network warns of eight million senior Americans going hungry by 2050 if the issue is not addressed, reports Forbes . In 2017, 95 percent of Older American Act (OAA) nutrition program participants had multiple chronic conditions, and almost 50 percent of congregate OAA meals programs and about 66 percent of home-delivered participants currently have six or more. More than 21 percent of congregate and 40 percent of home-delivered OAA participants take more than six. Moreover, family as a food safety net has lost some of its strength due to the invention and popularization of birth control pills during the baby-boomer era, leading to fewer children and significant numbers of boomer women electing to stay single and make a living on their own. Case Western University's Sharona Hoffman adds that the threat of a senior hunger surge from mass boomer retirements is being compounded by soaring healthcare costs and the perpetual underfunding of programs like Meals on Wheels. Ellen Teller with the Food Research & Action Center says life extension research as well as growing numbers of men and women living independently without companions have exacerbated the rise in senior food shortages.