Is Poverty a Disappearing Problem for Older Women?
Because women have significantly more opportunities and resources than they used to, many believe that the financial fate of aging women is no longer an issue worthy of attention. In the thousands of hours and pages devoted to discussions about privatizing Social Security, the impact on older women is rarely raised. And, in 2005 as a Public Trustee for Social Security, Thomas Saving told an audience in Austin, low Social Security benefits and poverty among older women “is a disappearing problem… That is not going to be happening in the future.” Given our review of the data, we beg to differ. While the economic situation for the elderly is as bright as it has ever been in our nation’s history (only 10 percent of elderly in the United States are poor), the financial well being of aging women is disproportionately worse than it is for their male counterparts. While some women are faring well and will enter old age with plenty of resources, gender inequality still plagues women in the Un
