ECONOMICS OF AGING: TOWARD A FULL SHARE IN ABUNDANCE 91-1 HEARINGS BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON HOUSING FOR THE ELDERLY OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING NINETY-FIRST CONGRESS For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Part 1. Survey Hearing, Washington, D.C., April 29-30, 1969 (II) CONTENTS CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WITNESSES THURSDAY, JULY 31, 1969 Cohen, Hon. Wilbur J., dean, School of Education, University of Michigan- McGuire, Mrs. Marie, Special Assistant for Problems of the Elderly, Hous- Page Coffee, Hon. Richard, State senator from Mercer County, N.J. Shannon, John, Assistant Director, Advisory Commission on Intergovern- Chen, Yung-Ping, associate professor, Department of Economics, Uni- versity of California, Los Angeles____ Tips, Charles R., president, Homeowners of the United States of America, Appendix 1: Additional material from witnesses: Item 1. Supplementary statement of Marie C. McGuire, Assistant for Problems of the Elderly and Handicapped, Department of Hous- Item 2. Prepared statement_of John Shannon, Assistant Director, Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.. Exhibit A. Property tax relief for low-income families. Item 3. Material submitted by Pung-Ping Chen, Ph. D., associate professor, Department of Economics, University of California, Los Appendix 2: Letters and statements from individuals and organizations: Letter from Dr. George E. Davis, executive director, State of Indiana, Commission on the Aging and Aged, Indianapolis, dated, July 2, ECONOMICS OF AGING: TOWARD A FULL SHARE IN ABUNDANCE (HOMEOWNERSHIP ASPECTS) THURSDAY, JULY 31, 1969 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON HOUSING OF THE ELDERLY OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 10:10 a.m., pursuant to call, in room 4200, Senate Office Building, Senator Frank E. Moss (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Senators Moss, Saxby, and Gurney. Committee staff members present: William E. Oriol, staff director; and John Guy Miller, minority staff director. Senator Moss. The subcommittee will come to order. OPENING STATEMENT BY SENATOR MOSS Senator Moss. Today the Subcommittee on Housing for the Elderly of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging will hear from witnesses who have come to discuss "Homeownership Aspects of the Economics of Aging." As the title may suggest, our hearing is part of a larger study which began earlier this year when a task force for the full Committee on Aging acting at the request of Committee Chairman Harrison A. Williams submitted a working paper called the Economics of Aging: Toward a Full Share in Abundance. That working paper has become a much-discussed and highly praised document. In very hard-hitting terms it made these points: The gap between retirement income and the income of those still in the labor force is widening, not narrowing. Approximately 7 million older Americans live in poverty or near poverty. For widows or other elderly women living alone, the ratio is more than 50 percent. The economic insecurity of the elderly is not solely the concern of today's older Americans. Unless we make major changes in public policy and then follow up vigorously with action, people who are now middle aged or younger will face an even worse retirement income problem when they reach later years. Health cost problems are severe, even with the vital protection medicare provides. |