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Voters line as much as solid their ballots at a polling location in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on November 5, 2024.
Samuel Corum | Episode | Getty Pictures
To the query: “Are you higher off right this moment than 4 years in the past?” the reply for a lot of older voters aged 50 and over was ‘no’, in accordance with a brand new paper ballot after the elections launched by AARP.
Almost half – 47% – of voters aged 50 and over stated they’re “worse off now,” the survey discovered, whereas greater than half – 55% – of voters in that age group stated the identical.
In aggressive congressional districts, President-elect Donald Trump gained the 50-and-older vote by 2 proportion factors — the identical margin by which he carried the nation, AARP discovered.
Amongst voters aged 50 to 64, Trump gained by 7 factors. With voters 65 and older, Vice President Kamala Harris gained by 2 factors.
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AARP commissioned Fabrizio Ward and Impression Analysis, a bipartisan workforce of Republican and Democratic corporations that present public opinion analysis and consulting, to conduct the examine. Interviews have been carried out with 2,348 “probably voters” in choose congressional districts after Election Day between November 6 and 10.
Older voters, who make up an outsized share of the vote and have a tendency to lean Republican, have made a distinction in lots of key congressional races, in accordance with Bob Ward, a Republican pollster and accomplice at Fabrizio Ward.
“General, it’s the greater than fifty voters who’ve given the Republicans their majority,” Ward stated.
Older swing voters centered on pockets points
When requested “How involved are you about your private monetary state of affairs?” in a single Within the June AARP survey, 62% of voters age 50 and older checked the priority field, whereas 63% of voters total did the identical.
Voters continued to emphasise their cash issues on Election Day, the most recent AARP ballot confirmed.
“All of those research we did for AARP pointed to an absence of financial safety for individuals,” stated Jeff Liszt, accomplice at Impression Analysis.
“The shock of inflation left them with no sense of safety,” he stated.
For voters aged 50 and older, meals is the largest value downside at 39%, the ballot discovered. That was adopted by well being care and pharmaceuticals, at 20%; housing, 14%; gasoline, 10%; and electrical energy, 6%.
Greater than half – 55% – of voters aged 50 and older stated they prioritized private financial points, together with inflation, the financial system and employment, and Social Safety, when deciding their vote.
Older swing voters have been extra prone to go to the polls due to these pockets points than every other precedence, the ballot discovered.
Republicans gained over older voters on most private financial points, though voters 50 and older nonetheless had a two-point lead over Democrats on Social Safety.
Democrats have historically had a stronger lead on Social Safety, Ward stated, with polls exhibiting it’s now “fully up for grabs.”
“As I have a look at the midterm elections, whether or not I am Republican or Democrat, that is going to be a problem I need to win,” Ward stated.
Voters age 50 and older broadly assist Medicare in negotiating prescription drug costs, in addition to the coverage of permitting the aged inhabitants to age in place. Non-financial points akin to immigration and border safety and threats to democracy have been additionally among the many prime issues of some older voters.
Social safety reform may develop into an even bigger focus
Though each presidential candidates pledged to guard Social Safety in the course of the marketing campaign, they didn’t supply plans to revive this system’s solvency.
The belief fund Social Safety is determined by paying advantages and is predicted to dry up in 2033, at which level 79% of these advantages might be payable.
“What is completely clear is that there’s an actionable occasion that we’re getting nearer to, and that Congress goes to must act in some unspecified time in the future,” stated Nancy Altman, president of Social Safety Works, an advocacy group that focuses on increasing the financial system. this system.
Though Trump has touted plans to eradicate taxes on Social Safety advantages, analysis has proven that this might worsen this system’s insolvency. The Home of Representatives this week voted to eradicate guidelines that minimize Social Safety advantages for sure individuals with retirement incomes, which might additionally improve the price of this system.
In keeping with the AARP, Social Safety is the primary supply of retirement revenue for many Individuals. About 42% of individuals aged 65 and older rely on this system for at the very least 50% of their revenue; about 20% rely on it for at the very least 90% of their revenue.
Like Social Safety, Medicare additionally faces a looming depletion of the belief fund for the Half A program that covers hospital insurance coverage.
“We need to be sure that we shield Medicare and Social Safety and that we accomplish that in a fiscally accountable method,” AARP CEO Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan lately informed CNBC.
Older voters prioritized private financial points on Election Day: AARP
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