Lydia Smith stands in the kitchen of her home in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles. She has lived in this apartment for 46 years, and now that she is on a fixed income, she pays rent with the aid of Section 8 tenant-based assistance. Megan Miller for NPR hide caption
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Megan Miller for NPR
Lydia Smith stands in the kitchen of her home in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles. She has lived in this apartment for 46 years, and now that she is on a fixed income, she pays rent with the aid of Section 8 tenant-based assistance.
Megan Miller for NPR
Poverty does not treat men and women equally, especially in old age. Women 65 years old and older who are living in poverty outnumber men in those circ*mstances by more than 2 to 1. And these women are likely to face the greatest deprivation as they become older and more frail.
This pretty much describes the situation of 87-year-old Lydia Smith.
In her small, tidy apartment near downtown Los Angeles, she's surrounded by dozens of family photographs. She picks out one and points to her twin sister, her mother and her brother. "Unfortunately, he's gone," she says. "She's gone," she says, pointing to her sister. And "Mama's gone," she says.
Smith, a war bride, came to the United States from Rome with her family after World War II. But she got divorced in the 1950s and never remarried. Once her son and daughter were grown, she moved to this second-story walk-up.
"I've been here 46 years in this apartment," she says. "I have no intention of moving, either."
How could she disrupt all of her neatly arranged collections? There's a basket of baby dolls, a Barbie-filled breakfront and a bunch of Hello Kitty knickknacks. All are the result of a discerning eye and the local Goodwill store, pretty much the only place she's bought anything in years.
A Hello Kitty radio that Smith uses to listen to her favorite classical music radio station sits on her kitchen table. Smith has several small collections, including Hello Kitty and Barbies. Megan Miller for NPR hide caption
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Megan Miller for NPR
A Hello Kitty radio that Smith uses to listen to her favorite classical music radio station sits on her kitchen table. Smith has several small collections, including Hello Kitty and Barbies.
Megan Miller for NPR
She gets just over $900 a month from Social Security, and that's it. Her apartment is subsidized through a program called Section 8. She pays about a third of her income in rent; the government picks up the rest. Smith doesn't get food stamps, but she does qualify for Medicaid. That's a good thing, since she's being treated for a heart condition and severe arthritis.
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"When you're in constant pain, you have no desire to be active," Smith says. "So this is why I stay home a lot. I don't go places."
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Smith never saved for retirement. It didn't occur to her. And with the kind of money she made working as a clerk in a department store and a cashier at a restaurant, there wasn't much left over anyway.
This is the story of most of the 2.6 million women ages 65 and over who are living at or below the poverty line, says Joan Entmacher, vice president for family economic security at the National Women's Law Center.
Over a lifetime, she says, "women earn less than men because their wages are lower and they're more likely to take time out for caregiving." And, she says, women live longer than men, so "they have to stretch these lower benefits over a longer life span."
Smith holds a photograph of herself and her twin sister. Her home is decorated with many arrangements of family photographs. Megan Miller for NPR hide caption
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Megan Miller for NPR
Smith holds a photograph of herself and her twin sister. Her home is decorated with many arrangements of family photographs.
Megan Miller for NPR
Decades ago, an older woman without much income might have lived with her children, says Heidi Hartmann, president of the Institute for Women's Policy Research. But now, families are often spread out around the country, and it's rare for older people to move in with their kids. Hartmann says that women of color, women who are foreign-born and women who live alone like Smith have it the worst.
"The poverty [rate] of single women [living] alone is 18 to 20 percent," Hartmann says. "Many of these women may not have any relatives. They might not have had children. [Or] those children might not be in a position to help take care of them."
That's the case with Smith. Neither of her children lives in Los Angeles. They're both getting on in years themselves and have health and financial struggles of their own.
Such situations are one of the reasons that Social Security advocates and some politicians talk about increasing Social Security benefits, especially for people 85 and older. But Smith says she never thinks about what life would be like if she had more money. Since she was a child in Italy, it's always been like this. She has her routine down. She's content.
Religious icons and decorations are displayed in Smith's living room. She does not leave her home often because of her arthritis. Megan Miller for NPR hide caption
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Megan Miller for NPR
Religious icons and decorations are displayed in Smith's living room. She does not leave her home often because of her arthritis.
Megan Miller for NPR
"I read, I do puzzles, I listen to music," Smith says. "I go out maybe twice, three times a week to go to the market" or to drag her laundry to the public laundromat. These days, Smith's arthritis makes it hard for her to get to Mass.
"But I pray at home, "she says, "and I have a video of the Mass. I watch it on television." She's confident that God will accept her prayer no matter where she is.
FAQs
Women working full time in the U.S. are still paid just 84 cents to every dollar earned by men — and the consequences of this gap affect women throughout their lives. The pay gap even follows women into retirement: As a result of lower lifetime earnings, they receive less in Social Security and pensions.
How does gender equality affect women in retirement? ›
Lower lifetime earnings make it harder for women to save for retirement. Exacerbating these differences, women are on average longer lived, more risk averse, less financially literate, and more likely to have greater caregiving responsibilities than men.
What is the retirement income gap for women? ›
A gender pension gap existing in nearly every country across the world, with women's retirement balances often 30% lower than men's. Three key factors contribute most to gender disparities in retirement incomes – women often make less, work differently, and live longer.
What percentage of women retire in poverty? ›
Additionally, older women of color have higher poverty rates compared with older white women. Statistically, according to the brief, 11.6% of women aged 65 or more years live in poverty, compared with 8.8% of older men.
How much less do women retire with? ›
Women are at greater risk in retirement. Here are ways to overcome a savings shortfall. Women have about 44% less saved by the time they retire, research shows. Although the goal of a comfortable retirement feels out of reach for most, some key steps can help.
Are women more likely to live in poverty in retirement? ›
Women are 80 percent more likely than men to be impoverished at age 65 and older, while women between the ages of 75 to 79 are three times more likely than men to be living in poverty. Widowed women are twice as likely to be living in poverty than their male counterparts.
Why aren t women saving enough for retirement? ›
″[Women] have less saved for retirement than men do because of the gender pay gap and because they spend less time in the workforce,” Krawcheck says. “So they invest a lower percentage of their wealth than men do.”
Why are women at greater risk than men in terms of financial security in retirement? ›
There is a gender gap in retirement savings. Over their lifetime, on average, women earn less money than men and live longer. As a result, they have an increased risk of outliving their retirement savings.
What are the facts about women retirement? ›
Women are more likely than men to be poor in their later years: In 2018, 62% of Americans over age 65 living below the poverty line were women. At the same time, women typically live longer than men, meaning they will face higher costs in retirement, both in terms of daily living expenses and health-care costs.
What is true about women and retirement? ›
On average, a female retiring at age 67 can expect to live another 20 years, over two years longer than a man the same age. Savings can increase a woman's chances of having enough money to last during her retirement. Some studies indicate that women invest more conservatively than men.
Social Security is neutral with respect to gender – individuals with identical earnings histories are treated the same in terms of benefits.
How does gender inequality affect poverty? ›
Women bear the brunt of most unpaid care and domestic work, spending 2.8 more hours than men on unpaid care. As a result, women and girls have less time and opportunities to access education and paid work, or to participate in social and political life. This in turn keeps them poorer than men.
How many women over 65 live in poverty? ›
What are the Poverty Rates for Women? While the poverty rate for all women age 65 and older is 10.6%[ii] (or just over 1 in 10), the poverty rate for single women living alone is almost twice as high at 19%[iii].
Why do women get less Social Security? ›
Employment history and earnings.
When they are working, women on average earn less than their male counterparts. Thus, women generally receive smaller monthly Social Security benefits based on their own earnings histories, as compared to men.
Who saves more money men or women? ›
Men saved an average of $7,007 and women saved an average of $3,146 in 2022, according to New York Life's latest Wealth Watch survey. The average amount saved overall was $5,011. Levels of financial stress and optimism also differed considerably by gender.
Who saves more for retirement men or women? ›
Women typically have less money saved for retirement than men. Women generally earn less than men and can have career gaps due to caregiver roles that can lead to lower savings, lifetime wages, and Social Security.
How does gender equality affect women? ›
Women's empowerment is a critical aspect of achieving gender equality. It includes increasing a woman's sense of self-worth, her decision-making power, her access to opportunities and resources, her power and control over her own life inside and outside the home, and her ability to effect change.
How are women affected by gender inequality? ›
But across the globe many women and girls still face discrimination on the basis of sex and gender. Gender inequality underpins many problems which disproportionately affect women and girls, such as domestic and sexual violence, lower pay, lack of access to education, and inadequate healthcare.
How is retirement gendered? ›
Women are more likely than men to be poor in their later years: In 2018, 62% of Americans over age 65 living below the poverty line were women. At the same time, women typically live longer than men, meaning they will face higher costs in retirement, both in terms of daily living expenses and health-care costs.
How does unequal pay affect women? ›
On average, women employed in the United States lose a combined total of more than $1.6 trillion every year due to the wage gap. families have less money to support themselves, save and invest for the future, and spend on goods and services. Women, their families, businesses and the economy suffer as a result.
