Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Robert David SullivanDecember 02, 2014
At least 46 percent of seniors in the counties colored blue have a signficant disability. (U.S. Census Bureau)

Stories about the political attitudes of Millennials—and young, affluent voters in general—make for good journalism because they flatter potential new readers. But older Americans are more likely to vote, and a new Census report hints at an issue of particular concern to them.

Older Americans With a Disability: 2008-2012,” released on Tuesday, estimates that there are now 16 million Americans over the age of 65 that are disabled (with “physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities”), amounting to about 5 percent of the total population. The number is expected to grow significantly as Baby Boomers continue to age.

As a voting group, older Americans with disabilities may demand greater compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as well as more affordable home health care and other ways to maintain independent living situations. Their needs already effect public transit (funding “paratransit” services, and determining who is eligible for them, are major challenges) and are disconcerting back-to-the-city types who value aesthetics above all else. (See the long-running resistance to visible curb cuts in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood.)

But disabilities are not evenly distributed in among the over-65 bloc. According to the Census report, 54 percent of seniors without a high-school education have a disability, compared with only 26 percent of those with at least a bachelor’s degree. There are also geographic differences, with Mississippi having the highest percentage of seniors with a disability (48 percent) and Arizona at the other end of the scale (35 percent). Older Americans with disabilities are more common in the rural areas of Southern states. In an age of political polarization, it’s not certain that an older voter in a blue state like New York will feel solidarity with voters facing accessibility problems in a red state like Arkansas.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Delegates hold "Mass deportation now!" signs on Day 3 of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee July 17, 2024. (OSV News photo/Brian Snyder, Reuters)
Around the affluent world, new hostility, resentment and anxiety has been directed at immigrant populations that are emerging as preferred scapegoats for all manner of political and socio-economic shortcomings.
Kevin ClarkeNovember 21, 2024
“Each day is becoming more difficult, but we do not surrender,” Father Igor Boyko, 48, the rector of the Greek Catholic seminary in Lviv, told Gerard O’Connell. “To surrender means we are finished.”
Gerard O’ConnellNovember 21, 2024
Many have questioned how so many Latinos could support a candidate like DonaldTrump, who promised restrictive immigration policies. “And the answer is that, of course, Latinos are complicated people.”
J.D. Long GarcíaNovember 21, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris delivers her concession speech for the 2024 presidential election on Nov. 6, 2024, on the campus of Howard University in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Catholic voters were a crucial part of Donald J. Trump’s re-election as president. But did misogyny and a resistance to women in power cause Catholic voters to disregard the common good?
Kathleen BonnetteNovember 21, 2024