Number of US workers aged 75 and up expected to increase 96.5% over next decade as some say ‘we must work until we die’
Maria Rios, 75, has worked as a food prep worker with contractor HMS Host at Phoenix Sky Harbor international airport for 17 years, where she makes $14.50 an hour. Her husband, who is retired, only receives about $400 a month in social security benefits. Rios would like to retire also, but she doesn’t have the option even as she is battling ovarian cancer.
When Covid-19 hit the US, Rios was one of thousands of workers in the food service industry who were furloughed, and was only recalled back to work a few months ago. While receiving unemployment assistance, Rios and her husband had to rely on food banks to have enough food to eat, and because she lost her health insurance along with her job, she had to skip cancer treatments until she was able to get Medicare, but still paid hundreds of dollars out of pocket for treatments.
This article was written with the support of a journalism fellowship from the Gerontological Society of America, the Journalists Network on Generations and the RRF Foundation for Aging