If you ask the political pros, they’ll swear older voters have the whole game on lock.
They show up more than anyone, fill up rallies, and can swing a whole district if they want. But if you pay attention between elections, all that supposed power starts to look a lot like it’s just being used.
Just a few weeks back, social media went wild when singer Gladys Knight, who’s 82, said she’s slowing down her tour schedule. Some folks were sad to see her looking tired; others were, like, let her do her thing — she’s earned it.
That hit home for a lot of us, because everybody’s got someone in their family getting older. We’re all trying to let our parents do their thing, but still stressing about their safety and how we’re supposed to afford any of it.
So let’s talk about why getting older in America has basically turned into a money trap nobody wants to talk about. I hit up Dr. Macie P. Smith, a social worker and gerontologist who knows what it’s like for folks trying to care for aging family.
Here’s what’s actually going down behind the scenes.
Older folks always show up to vote, especially in Black and brown communities. But all that turnout? It rarely turns into real support or anything close to a safety net.
Smith doesn’t sugarcoat it. She says politicians know older voters usually stick with their party, not the issues.
“They are committed more so to a particular party than to their interest… The legislators and elected officials know that this is a dedicated block of voters. They also know that they aren’t going to change,” Smith said.
Candidates take this whole group for granted, so nothing really changes when it comes to eldercare. Meanwhile, inflation keeps eating up those fixed checks.
Black and Latino seniors lean on Social Security because of wage gaps and racial discrimination in hiring that leave them with fewer savings, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Social Security’s cost-of-living bump was 2.8%, while Medicare premiums rose 10%, AARP reported. On a fixed income, that COL raise disappeared almost immediately.
Like Smith says, “They use that [Social Security] to pay their light bill, buy groceries, and pay for medications. It isn’t enough.”
Let’s call it what it is.
Lawmakers act like the people holding up our democracy don’t even matter.
They know exactly who’s standing in the rain at 7 a.m. on Election Day and holding down the polls. But as soon as the cameras are gone and it’s time to actually deliver, those same folks get left to fight a system that’ll empty your bank account just to keep your elders under a roof.
You can’t talk about respecting Black and brown political power if you’re ignoring the money problems draining those same families.
When elders are stretching checks that don’t even cover groceries and their kids are quitting jobs to take care of them for free, that’s not just a failure in eldercare. AARP puts the cost of unpaid caregiving at more than $1 trillion a year.
That’s generational wealth getting snatched in real time.
If parties want to keep counting on the most loyal voters in America, it’s time to actually show up with real policies that help people live, not just survive.
