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Older Women and Poverty Transition

Older Women and Poverty Transition Older single women are disproportionately vulnerable to poverty. Using data from the 2002 and 2004 waves of the Health and Retirement Study of 5,799 women age 65 or older, this study investigated the effect of change in income sources by recent spousal loss on poverty transition. The focus is on (a) the effect of widowhood on income source change and (b) how such change affects poverty transition of recently widowed older women. Findings indicate that widowhood greatly decreases income from every source. Specifically, a $10 increase in social security benefits decreased the probability of poverty transition for recently widowed older women by 67.2%. These findings call for reconsidering social security survivor benefit rules and women's education with regard to financial security in retirement. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Applied Gerontology SAGE

Older Women and Poverty Transition

Journal of Applied Gerontology , Volume 28 (3): 22 – Jun 1, 2009

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References (27)

Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
Copyright © by SAGE Publications
ISSN
0733-4648
eISSN
1552-4523
DOI
10.1177/0733464808326953
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Older single women are disproportionately vulnerable to poverty. Using data from the 2002 and 2004 waves of the Health and Retirement Study of 5,799 women age 65 or older, this study investigated the effect of change in income sources by recent spousal loss on poverty transition. The focus is on (a) the effect of widowhood on income source change and (b) how such change affects poverty transition of recently widowed older women. Findings indicate that widowhood greatly decreases income from every source. Specifically, a $10 increase in social security benefits decreased the probability of poverty transition for recently widowed older women by 67.2%. These findings call for reconsidering social security survivor benefit rules and women's education with regard to financial security in retirement.

Journal

Journal of Applied GerontologySAGE

Published: Jun 1, 2009

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