Unpaid Caregiving Takes a Toll on Retirement Security

Published in RINewsToday on August 10, 2026

Unpaid family caregiving is often viewed as a labor of love. But a new national study shows that caring for a loved one can also come with a significant financial price — one that may well follow caregivers right into their retirement years.

On July 22, the Washington, D.C.-based Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that studies employee benefits, released its 42-page report, “Caregivers and Retirement: Findings From the 2026 Retirement Confidence Survey.” The report examines how unpaid caregiving affects financial security, employment, health and retirement planning.

Not surprisingly, the findings paint a very troubling picture. Caregivers are more likely than non-caregivers to report lower financial assets, debt problems, poorer health and less confidence about having enough money to live comfortably throughout retirement.

The report is part of a broader caregiving project being developed by EBRI and Greenwald Research. The goal is to provide employers with educational resources and strategies to help employee caregivers better prepare for retirement while managing the all-consuming demands of caring for a family member.

A Growing Retirement Security Issue

The 2026 Retirement Confidence Survey, now in its 36th year, found that nearly three in 10 Americans age 25 and older are unpaid caregivers.

For purposes of the study, caregivers were defined as people who provided unpaid care for an adult or child during the previous 12 months in a non-institutional setting and helped the care recipient with at least one activity of daily living or instrumental activity of daily living.

The findings were discussed during a July 22 EBRI and Greenwald Research webinar featuring Craig Copeland, EBRI’s director of wealth benefits research; Lisa Greenwald, CEO of Greenwald Research; Kerry Sette of Voya Financial; and Cynthia Hutchins of Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Throughout the discussion, the message was quite clear: caregiving is not simply a family or health issue. It must also be viewed as a retirement security issue.

“Caregiving is often discussed as a family, health or workplace issue, but this research shows it is also an important retirement security issue,” Copeland and Greenwald said in announcing the report.

“Caregivers are doing many of the same planning activities as non-caregivers, but they are more likely to face debt, lower assets, mental health strain and lower confidence about their long-term financial future,” they noted.

The 2026 report builds on an earlier 2023 EBRI/Greenwald Research study that also examined caregivers. Comparing the two surveys, Copeland said caregivers continue to fall behind their non-caregiving counterparts.

Taking a Look at the Key Findings

Caregiving can take a toll on health. Only 36% of caregivers said their health was excellent or very good, compared with 45% of non-caregivers. Caregivers were also less likely to have household incomes of $75,000 or more — 53%, compared with 62% of non-caregivers. Women represented 61% of caregivers, compared with 47% of non-caregivers. 

Caregivers have fewer financial resources to build wealth. Thirty-four percent of caregivers reported having less than $10,000 in savings and investments, compared with 25% of non-caregivers. Debt was also more likely to be a problem: 69% of caregivers said debt was a problem, compared with 57% of non-caregivers.

Caregiving can hit the family wallet. Thirty-four percent of caregiving workers and 20% of caregiving retirees said they provide financial support to the person they care for. In addition, 20% of caregiving workers and 15% of caregiving retirees said they had taken on new or additional debt as a result of caregiving.

The emotional toll is substantial. Sixty-four percent of working caregivers and 52% of caregiving retirees said caregiving had negatively affected their mental health. Among working caregivers, the financial tasks most affected were saving for emergencies (56%) and working the hours they wanted or needed to work (54%).

The financial pressures of caregiving can make it harder for people to prepare for their own futures. Caregivers in both the lower- and upper-income groups were more likely than non-caregivers with similar incomes to lack confidence that they would have enough money to live comfortably throughout retirement.

Among households earning less than $35,000, 75% of caregivers said they were not confident they would have enough money for retirement, compared with 55% of non-caregivers. Among households earning $75,000 or more, 32% of caregivers lacked confidence, compared with 23% of non-caregivers.

Caregivers were also more likely to worry about the impact of an economic recession, rising housing costs, and having to provide care for a loved one with a health condition or disability.

When Caregiving Changes Retirement Plans

For some caregivers, the demands of providing care can even change when they leave the workforce.

The survey found that caregiving retirees were more likely than non-caregiving retirees to have retired earlier than planned. Among those who retired earlier than expected, caregivers were more likely to say they did so because they had to care for a spouse or another family member.

Caregiving retirees were also more likely to describe their current retirement lifestyle as fair rather than excellent. They were more likely to say their retirement lifestyle was not what they had envisioned and that several retirement expenses were higher than expected.

Higher-income caregivers also lagged behind non-caregivers with similar incomes in completing several important retirement-planning tasks, including calculating how much they needed to save, saving for retirement, planning for emergency expenses and estimating future health care costs.

The report points to a number of ways employers can help working caregivers, including flexible scheduling, remote-work opportunities, caregiver resources, education and benefits designed to reduce some of the financial pressures associated with caregiving.

Lisa Greenwald, CEO of Greenwald Research, says caregiving creates financial, health and social-emotional pressures at different stages of life — while people are working, preparing for retirement and after they retire.

For employers, she says, recognizing these challenges can help them provide the flexibility and support caregivers need to remain productive at work while continuing to save for retirement.

Having Their Say…

Washington insider Dan Adcock, director of government relations and policy for the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, agrees with the report’s findings about the financial and personal pressures facing caregivers.

Unless unpaid family caregivers receive greater support through respite care or paid Home- and Community-Based Services, Adcock says, caregiving responsibilities can take a toll on their physical and emotional health.

He also points to another concern not fully captured by the EBRI survey: working-age caregivers who leave the workforce to care for a loved one can end up with lower Social Security benefits because the program’s benefit formula is based in part on a worker’s earnings history.

That is one reason Adcock supports a Social Security caregiver credit.

He urges Congress to pass the Social Security Caregiver Credit Act of 2026 (S. 4396/H.R. 8490). The legislation was introduced by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in the Senate, with Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) introducing the House companion measure.

The legislation would allow qualifying unpaid caregivers to receive up to five years of deemed wages for purposes of calculating Social Security benefits. To qualify, a caregiver would generally have to provide at least 80 hours of care per month to a dependent child under age 12 or a chronically dependent relative.

The bills remain in committee. S. 4396 was referred to the Senate Finance Committee, while H.R. 8490 was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee.

The issue is particularly important here in Rhode Island, where thousands of family members provide unpaid care that helps loved ones remain in their homes.

Maureen Maigret, policy advisor with the Senior Agenda Coalition of Rhode Island (SACRI), says the EBRI findings confirm what advocates have been seeing for years.

“Caregiving takes a significant physical, emotional, and financial toll on our unpaid caregivers,” she says.

Maigret notes that Rhode Island caregivers provide thousands of hours of unpaid care that can allow people to remain at home longer, potentially delaying or avoiding more costly nursing facility care.

SACRI is pushing for policies to strengthen support for caregivers, including expanding the state’s Temporary Caregiver Insurance program, adequately funding respite services, and creating a state caregiver tax credit.

Rhode Island has already taken steps to support working family caregivers through its Temporary Caregiver Insurance program. Aging advocates, however, continue to push for expanded eligibility and additional weeks of paid leave.

Taking a Close Look at AARP’s Caregiver Study

After a media briefing last year, AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) published a report, Caregiving in the U.S. 2025, that warns of a looming crisis that will impact America’s 63 million caregivers, an increase of 45% over the past decade. The report, released June 24, 2025, noted that caregivers are at a “crisis point.” Nearly half reported major financial problems, one in five reported fair or poor health, and more troubling, nearly a quarter felt completely alone.

One in five caregivers report poor health; a quarter are taking on debt due to caregiving. Half report negative financial impact due to caregiving, and one in five cannot afford basic needs like food.

EBRI’s new survey adds an important retirement-focused perspective to an ongoing national conversation about unpaid caregiving.  The research shows how caregiving can affect not only today’s household decisions but a person’s long-term financial security.

And that may well be the most important takeaway from the new EBRI report.

Millions of Americans step up to the plate when a parent, spouse, child or other loved one needs help. They do it because it is what families do. But caregiving should not mean that the person providing that care has to sacrifice his or her own financial future.

Like AARP’s 2025 caregiver study, EBRI’s report examines how caregiving responsibilities are associated with retirement confidence, debt, savings, financial stress, workplace needs and long-term retirement preparation among workers and retirees.

The EBRI research, complementing AARP’s definitive caregiving research, makes it clear that unpaid caregiving carries consequences that can extend far beyond the time spent providing care. For many Americans, the price may be paid not only today, but again when they reach retirement.

A Final Note…

EBRI’s Copeland points out: “The survey results clearly show caregiving has significant impacts on both workers and retirees, not only now but in the future as well. While you may not be a caregiver currently, if you have parents or children, you are likely to be one in the future. Thus, preparing for this need, or better handling current caregiving needs, can make a huge difference in retirement preparations and current expenses. Caregiving can take a toll on all aspects of life, so anything individuals can do to plan for it or better educate themselves can foster a caregiver’s well-being, both financially and emotionally.”
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The 2026 Retirement Confidence Survey was conducted online from January 2 through January 28, 2026, among 2,544 Americans age 25 and older. It included a general population sample of 2,052 people — 1,007 workers and 1,045 retirees — plus an oversample of 492 caregivers. The final analysis included 701 caregiving workers and 305 caregiving retirees.

The 2026 survey was supported by the American College of Financial Services, American Funds/Capital Group, Bank of America, Bright Horizons, CareScout, Edward Jones, Empower, Fidelity Investments, FINRA Foundation, Jackson National, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Mercer, Nationwide, Principal Financial Group, Protective, Prudential/PGIM, T. Rowe Price and Voya Financial.

To watch the EBRI Webinar and for a copy of the slides, go to https://www.ebri.org/publications/webinars/past-webinars

To read AARP’s 2025 Caregiver Study, go to Caregiving in the U.S. 2025 – AARP Research Report

US Senate Aging Panel Tackles AI Scams 

Published in RINewsToday on August 3, 2026

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer just changing how we work and communicate. It is rapidly transforming how criminals steal money from older Americans. Last week, the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging examined how AI-generated scams—from cloned audio to realistic deepfake videos—are creating an alarming new wave of fraud powered by artificial intelligence.

The afternoon hearing in room SD-562 dealt with AI-driven scams and financial exploitation. Since AI was introduced, the world of scams has changed significantly because criminals can now produce highly convincing deepfake videos and imitate voices with very little effort or technical knowledge, making them even harder to detect.

Taking a Closer Look at Computer-Generated Scams

The 83-minute hearing, held on Wednesday, July 29, featured testimony from victims who experienced devastating voice-cloning and deepfake fraud, medical professionals whose identities were weaponized, and experts from banking, cybersecurity, and consumer protection sectors who offered suggestions on combating it.

Scams have advanced far beyond annoying phone calls and deceiving emails,” says Chairman Rick Scott (R-FL) in his opening remarks.  “AI can also be used to clone someone’s voice, a terrifying development that has been used in heartbreaking and evil ways to impersonate a loved one and deceive their family,” he says.

The Florida senator cautions that scams, fraud, and financial exploitation are now the main problem confronting seniors across the country. “With the development of AI, scammers have obtained new tools for carrying out their criminal activities, and we need to adjust our response to these emerging threats,” he stated.

Like Scott, Ranking Member Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) expressed concern about the use of AI in scamming older adults.  “By making it easier for bad actors to clone voices, fabricate images, and deceive targets, AI has facilitated an alarming rise in financial scams that rob our seniors of their hard-earned savings and personal information,” she said.

To combat the growing threat of technology-assisted fraud and scams, Senators Smith and Gillibrand called for strengthening the federal government’s ability to crack down on scammers and for Congress to pass legislation to promote the responsible development of AI.

 Personal Stories, Calls on Congress to Tackle Issue

Dr. David Amron, the founder and medical director of the Roxbury Institute in Los Angeles, California, and founder and chair of the Lipedema, told lawmakers how he discovered that scammers in the summer of 2025 had taken real footage from his YouTube channel and combined it with digitally fabricated likenesses and the voice of a colleague as well as AI generated celebrity images and stolen media logos, to create a polished advertisement that appeared to be entirely legitimate.

Dr. Amron, who has treated patients with lipedema for more than three decades, testified that his office began receiving calls from people who watched a convincing video showing him endorsing a so-called “miracle” lipedema cream. Several had already purchased the product before realizing it was fraudulent.

Even after an 11-day battle with Meta, a Today Show investigation ultimately led to the removal of the fraudulent video. Dr. Amron’s frustration was that it kept resurfacing, underscoring how persistent and difficult it is to remove AI-enabled fraud schemes.

“The consequences extend far beyond financial loss,” remarked Dr. Amron, noting that patients may delay getting needed medical care to treat a progressive disease (like lipedema), placing their trust in unproven products and fraudulent services.

During the hearing, Dr. Amron urged lawmakers to strengthen protections against computer-generated impersonations, improve accountability for those who create and distribute them, and ensure laws keep pace with AI technology.  He argued that pressure must be placed on platforms that host fraudulent content, stating they “have to have consequences.”

While Dr. Amron described how criminals easily use technology-assisted fraud to exploit public trust in medical professionals, the next witness described how voice cloning took a devastating emotional toll on her family.

Deborah Del Mastro, a Martinez, California resident, recounted a phone call she received last May during breakfast.  This cloned call of her daughter crying and apologizing, from an unrecognized phone number, began a five-and-a-half-hour ordeal.

“I am usually very, very calm and collected in the face of crisis,” Mastro  told the Senators, noting that she is always the person who “runs to the fire, now away from it.” She was totally convinced that she heard her daughter’s voice.

The veteran, living on a Social Security check and performance income made from acting and singing, with Mastro and her husband pulling a total of $ 5,400 cash from four separate transactions from MoneyGram and Western Union to send to Mexico.

Local police told Mastro that the “ransom” funds are unrecoverable.  A detective told her that he “sees these by the hundreds.”

Education is key to protecting people from AI scams, asserts Mastro, telling the Senate panel that there is an absence of publicly available resources on how to protect yourself from AI-driven scams as opposed to the abundance of resources on how to use the emerging technology.

Financial institutions are also witnessing the rapid evolution of AI-driven scams.  Paul Benda, the Executive Vice President for Risk, Fraud, and Cybersecurity of the American Bankers Association (ABA), describes how criminals are using AI to expand the scale and sophistication of traditional scams.

Benda, who chairs the ABA Fraud Coordination Group, reframes the new, evolving  AI-driven scams not as a story of misused technology but as an industrial one.

 “Generative AI is not replacing traditional scams. It is industrializing,” Benda asserts.

 Benda explained that criminals are now using chatbots to initiate conversations before seamlessly handing victims off to human scammers once they become engaged. A survey of 14 large banks found that bank impersonation scams rose 150% from 2024 to 2025, Banta said, illustrating this growing threat.

Benda encouraged Congress to establish a national office for scams and fraud prevention, describing it as necessary to provide clear and national leadership to attack this problem.  He also called for stronger telecom safeguards to keep criminals off calling networks and to restore trust in caller ID. He argued that if a name and number appear on caller ID, the telecom provider should be held accountable if it is accurate.

At this point, the hearing turned from personal and industry experiences to the broader cybersecurity challenges posed by this rapidly advancing technology.

Cybersecurity expert Matthew F. Ferraro, a Partner at Crowell & Moring LLP and a former official at the Department of Human Services, personally testified at this hearing, noting that his views do not represent his firm or clients.

Ferraro argued that “deepfakes can supercharge scams and cyber frauds, especially targeting senior citizens.”  According to an industry report, financial losses from deepfake-enabled fraud exceeded $200 million in the first quarter of 2025.

Citing another study, Ferraro further illustrated the cost of AI-generated fraud. Consulting firm Deloitte expects that generative AI could enable fraud losses to reach $40 billion in the United States by 2027, he said.

In his testimony, Ferraro pointed out a successful national educational model to combat AI scams.  Finland has integrated media literacy and AI-media spotting training into educational programs for both young and old.

Ferraro urged lawmakers to promote AI detection tools and provenance technology that tags media as human-created or AI-generated, comparing the potential to email spam filters operating in the background.

Ferraro concluded that stronger coordination among federal and state governments, law enforcement, and the private sector is essential for policymakers to successfully attack this problem and stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated fraud operations.

Holding Big Tech Accountable

While several witnesses focused on prevention and consumer education, another argued that Congress must also hold technology companies more accountable.

“I want to be clear that the devastating deception we’re seeing is not a result of technological ineptitude for older users…but rather a crisis emboldened by the biggest tech companies we know paired with a failure to rein them in,” charges Ben Winters, Director of AI and Privacy at the Consumer Federation of America.

 “This is not an issue of personal responsibility, but something Congress is uniquely positioned to address,” says Winters.

Winters urged Congress to reject any legislative proposals that would prohibit states from regulating technology or limit tech company liability – characterizing such proposals as being “pushed by tech companies right now.”

Winters also recommended passing comprehensive data privacy laws with data minimization requirements and bans on the sale of sensitive data – specifically citing the practice of selling lists of people battling Alzheimer’s for targeting purposes as something that must be prohibited.

Winters supported the other witnesses’ call for sustained oversight of enforcement agencies to ensure that the federal government remains totally focused on upstream prevention of scams – “choking out the scam upstream, not just chasing individual scammers after the fact.”

The hearing also underscored that no family, not even a U.S. Senator’s family, is immune from these increasingly convincing scams.

Senate Aging Committee Member, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) disclosed that his mother-in-law was scammed by a voice clone impersonating his granddaughter, sending $10,000 to someone claiming to be stranded in Europe.

Report Sheds Light on AI-Driven Scams, Impact

At this hearing, Chairman Scott (R-FL) and Ranking Member Gillibrand released a joint report: Artificial Intelligence & Older Americans: Confronting New Threats, Unlocking New Opportunities. The document details both the potential benefits of AI and the unique financial risks it poses to older Americans.

The 25-page report cited research, shedding light on the negatives of this emerging technology. Americans reported nearly $21 billion in cybercrime losses in 2026, with $893 million tied to AI-enabled scams across more than 22,000 complaints. More than 82 percent of phishing emails are now created with the help of AI.

Recognizing warning signs early can potentially prevent huge financial losses from AI-enabled fraud. Any unsolicited contact by phone, text, email, or social media should be treated with immediate skepticism, regardless of how professional it looks or how urgent its message appears, the report warns.

Slow down and pause before acting, the report recommends. Review your financial accounts regularly for unauthorized transactions and set up transaction alerts through your financial institution.  For protection, the report notes that the Federal Trade Commission recommends placing a free credit freeze on all three major credit card bureaus.

Any payment requests can be a red flag for a scam. Any request for payment by gift card, wire transfer, cryptocurrency, or cash is a clear indicator of fraud, the report notes.

AI-simulated threats using deepfakes and voice cloning can replicate a loved one’s voice or image to perpetrate financial fraud.  The report suggests that a family code word or verbal safe phrase be used to verify the identity when a family member appears to be calling in.  AI voice cloning or deepfakes.

Finally, the Senate Aging Committee report stresses the importance of reporting fraud, recommending that victims contact the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline at 877-908-336.

On a positive note, older persons using AI company devices experienced a 95 percent drop in feelings of loneliness, along with substantial gains in overall well-being. This technology can also potentially reduce preventable adverse drug reactions, lower hospitalization costs, and improve the quality of life of millions of older persons managing multiple chronic conditions.

Increased efficiency through the use of AI scribes saves physicians time on administrative paperwork, increasing productivity and allowing them to spend more quality time with their older patients.

Meanwhile, AI use in clinical decision-making can improve sepsis detection, improve cancer diagnosis, and help the physician understand multiple drug interactions, all of which have a significant impact on providing care to older adults.

Finally, the report notes that AI use to reduce falls, to track vital signs, medication adherence, sleep patterns, and activity levels can help older adults age in place.

As lawmakers continue debating how best to regulate AI, one message clearly emerged repeatedly during the hearing: technology will continue evolving, but awareness remains the strongest defense. For older Americans, taking a moment to verify an unexpected phone call, text, or email may well be the simplest—and most effective—way to avoid becoming the next victim.

To watch the Senate Aging Committee AI hearing, go to https://www.aging.senate.gov/hearings/the-ai-deception-machine-deepfakes-chatbots-and-the-new-frontier-of-senior-fraud

To read the Joint Senate Aging Committee AI report, go to FINAL VERSION AI Report.

Georgia poll once again shows tightest races rest on Voters Over 50 

Published in RINewsToday on July 27, 2026

With just over three months until the 2026 midterm elections on Tuesday, Nov. 3, control of both the U.S. House and Senate chambers could hinge on the gray vote—Americans age 50 and older—one of the nation’s most reliable voting blocs.

That was the key takeaway message delivered during AARP’s July 23 virtual media briefing, where the Washington, D.C.-based organization released the findings of its latest bipartisan battleground-state survey examining Georgia’s closely watched and contested governor’s and U.S. Senate races.

According to AARP, Georgia is the second state in its 2026 battleground polling series, following Ohio, whose survey was released on June 25. Additional surveys are scheduled for Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Texas to be released before the upcoming midterm elections.  The bipartisan polling team of Fabrizio Ward (R) and Impact Research (D) was commissioned to conduct these surveys.

The Georgia poll findings suggest that voters age 50 and older are once again poised to play a very decisive role in determining the state’s election outcomes in one of the nation’s premier battleground states.

In Georgia’s May 19 primary election, voters age 50 and older cast 68% of all ballots. The survey also found that 88% of voters age 50 and older rated themselves a “10” on a 10-point motivation-to-vote scale, compared with 62% of voters under age 50. These findings reinforce a long-established demographic trend: older Americans remain among the nation’s most dependable and motivated voters and are likely to have a significant impact on the November election.

The Power of the Gray Vote

“Voters age 50 and older will decide this November’s Georgia races,” said Nancy LeaMond, AARP Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy Officer, in announcing the poll’s release. “Candidates who speak directly to the issues these voters care about most—including rising prices, protecting Social Security and Medicare, and lowering health care costs—will have the greatest opportunity to earn their support,” she explained.

During the nearly 30-minute morning briefing, AARP Georgia State Director Vanessa Payne joined Republican pollster Bob Ward of Fabrizio Ward and Democratic pollster Matt Hogan of Impact Research to discuss the poll’s findings and what they reveal about the priorities of older Georgia voters. Jen Jones, AARP’s Vice President of Government Affairs, participated during the Q&A to address questions, particularly around Social Security and retirement security, drawing on broader AARP research beyond the Georgia polls.  Ilse Zuniga, AARP’s Director of External Relations, moderated this briefing.

According to the new AARP poll, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms leads Republican Rick Jackson, 48% to 46%, in the governor’s race, within the poll’s margin of error. Age remains one of the race’s defining dividing lines. Jackson leads by 13 percentage points among voters age 50 and older, driven by strong support from voters age 65 and older, while Bottoms holds a 23-point advantage among voters under age 50.

The survey also examined Georgia’s competitive U.S. Senate race, one which could prove critical in determining which party controls the Senate. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff leads Republican Rep. Mike Collins, 52% to 43%. Ossoff enjoys a 30-point advantage among voters under age 50 and a narrow lead among voters ages 50 to 64, while Collins holds a 24-point advantage among voters age 65 and older. The poll’s findings found that age 50 and older remain a key swing constituency, while Ossoff leads among swing voters age 50 and older by 23 percentage points.

Opening the media briefing, Payne emphasized that AARP’s mission is not to predict election winners or tell voters how to cast their ballots.

“Our mission isn’t to tell people how to vote or who will win,” Payne said. “It’s to ensure that the priorities of Georgia’s voters age 50 and older, the largest and most reliable voting bloc in our state, are part of the conversation throughout the election season.”

Payne remarked that Georgia has become one of the nation’s most competitive battleground states, where narrow margins often decide statewide elections.

“One in eight voters over 50 are swing voters, making them one of the most influential voting blocs in this election,” she observed. “Georgians are focused on key issues affecting their daily lives—from protecting Social Security and Medicare to managing the rising cost of living. Candidates who understand those priorities will be best positioned to earn their votes,” she added.

Although older voters represent every political persuasion, Payne noted that they share many of the same concerns.

“What unites them isn’t party affiliation,” she said. “It’s a shared focus on protecting their financial security, maintaining their health and being able to live as independently as possible as they age.”

Democratic strategist Matt Hogan agreed with Payne that voters age 50 and older are likely to determine the outcome of Georgia’s upcoming midterm elections.

“Voters 50-plus will be the deciders in the Georgia election,” Hogan predicted. “The share who say they are extremely motivated to vote is 26 percentage points higher among voters 50-plus than among voters under 50,” he said.

Hogan also pointed to a significant shift in voter sentiment on the generic congressional ballot.

“Democrats now lead by a seven-point margin, with that shift especially pronounced among independents, who now favor Democrats by an 18-point margin on the generic ballot,” he said, noting “That’s a 26-point swing from 2024.”

“It’s Social Security & Medicare, Stupid”

 Turning to the issues driving older voters, Republican strategist Bob Ward stressed that financial security remains at the center of their concerns. “Seniors, those voters 65 and older, are equally concerned about immigration and protecting Social Security and Medicare, which are very much economic issues for older voters,” Ward explained.

“More than two-thirds of seniors tell us that Social Security makes up a major part of their income. It’s a big deal,” he added. “The importance of Social Security continues to rise to the top and will be just as influential on older voters this fall as rising prices,” he says.

Ward also noted broad bipartisan support for lowering prescription drug costs through Medicare.

“Fighting to lower prescription drug prices by expanding Medicare’s drug price negotiations is a winner on both sides of the political aisle,” Ward said, noting that 87 % of voters say they would be more likely to support a candidate who expands Medicare drug negotiations.

The poll found that among voters age 50 and older, 48% said Social Security is or will become a major source of household income. An overwhelming 92% said they would be more likely to support a candidate who will ensure they receive the Social Security benefits they earned through a lifetime of work.

Reflecting national polling trends, the survey findings indicated that grocery prices remain the affordability issue weighing most heavily on older Georgians.

“Voters in Georgia worry about the price of groceries more than any other issue, and that concern cuts across every political and demographic subgroup,” Ward said.

AARP’s poll also found respondents expressed a growing concern about the impact of expanding artificial intelligence data centers on household utility bills. Seventy-five percent expressed concern that new AI data centers could increase residential electric rates, while 85% said policymakers should ensure those costs are not passed on to residential utility customers.

A Final Note…

AARP’s Georgia battleground poll sends a clear message to candidates running for the U.S. Senate and Congress: older voters remain one of the nation’s most reliable and influential voting blocs. They vote consistently, they are highly motivated, and they are focused on issues that directly affect their financial security and quality of life.

AARP notes that in every election since 2002—the first year voting data by age became available—Americans age 65 and older have voted at higher rates than younger age groups.

Protecting Social Security and Medicare, lowering prescription drug costs, keeping groceries affordable, and controlling rising utility bills are not simply campaign talking points. For many older American voters, they are everyday concerns that will influence how they will cast their ballots in November.

Political observers have long referred to Social Security as the “third rail” of American politics. The phrase comes from the electrified third rail that powers many rail systems—touch it, and the consequences can be fatal. In politics, this metaphor suggests that proposals perceived as threatening Social Security can carry equally serious political consequences.  While people usually attribute the phrase to U.S. Sen.Tip O’Neill, William Safire documented in The New York Times that O’Neill’s chief counsel, Kirk O’Donnell, actually coined it.

As voters in Georgia, Ohio, and the other battleground states head to the polls this November, the 2026 midterm elections may once again test whether Social Security remains America’s political third rail. When the dust settles, we’ll see whether older voters reward candidates who they believe will protect Social Security and Medicare—or reject those they believe will weaken these programs.

AARP’s Georgia battleground poll,  conducted by the bipartisan team of Fabrizio Ward (R) and Impact Research (D), surveyed 1,060 likely Georgia voters between July 13 and July 16, 2026, using live telephone interviews and SMS-to-web methodology. According to the pollsters, the survey has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

For more information, contact Kate Bridges at kbridges@aarp.org.

Additional information about AARP’s 2026 battleground polling series is available at  https://www.aarp.org/pri/topics/voter-research/politics/2026-midterm-election-polls/?msockid=31611274a2d760231f7a0578a3f86192.

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