Many of you know that I am now retired, with the exception of continuing to edit the Journal of Women & Aging, of course. I downsized, as many retirees do, about 3 years ago and moved into a home about half the size of my past residence. I am now living in an over-55 community. At 71, I am probably slightly below the average age of women in my community. We have an executive golf course; a large community pool; and a clubhouse that includes a library, a game room with a pool table, ping-pong table, and tables for playing cards. There are meeting rooms where such activities as our book club meet regularly. There is also a large hall for special dinners, dances, and other activities. It is not unusual to see women in their 90s on the golf course and on the dance floor. Women here are not among the wealthy. We are primarily retired teachers, social workers, nurses, small business owners, and women from other professions or middle-income jobs. Many other women spent their years raising children and maintaining a household for husbands who were in middle-income jobs, including policemen, fire fighters, and other civil servants. As a group, I think it is fair to say that most of us are enjoying our retirement, and many of us are also volunteers in a variety of charitable concerns and in political campaigns. Such may not be the case for other retired women.
Women have historically been concentrated in undervalued and underpaid jobs. Even when doing the same jobs as men, women have been paid less. Low-paying jobs have made it difficult for many women to save sufficient funds for retirement. Among women who enter retirement with savings put aside, most discover their resources will not last the additional 20, 30, or perhaps even 40 years they may live, no matter how carefully they handle their money.
Although Social Security has made an impact on the financial conditions of older women, it was not intended to be the sole income of retirees but rather a supplement to savings and other sources of retirement income such as pensions. For a host of reasons, the average Social Security payment for women is appreciably lower than the average Social Security payment for men. The percentage of men who have pensions is more than double the percentage of women who have pensions, and when a man dies, it is unusual for his pension to continue. There is no question that widowhood substantially increases the risk of becoming poor.
As research has for years indicated, poverty negatively impacts health and emotional well-being. Being female and old puts way too many women at risk of being or becoming poor. Women constitute almost three-fourths of the aged poor in the United States. Even women living in my community are at risk, and we are better off than many woman whose economic well-being has been marginal throughout their lives.
I believe the political threat to Social Security and to other programs that assist older women is real. If those programs are cut or dismantled, the majority of the victims who are thrown into poverty will be women.