Poverty and income maintenance in old ageA cross-national view of low income older women

Poverty and income maintenance in old age

A cross-national view of low income older women

Smeeding

Timothy M.

Smeeding, Timothy M.

Author

Sandstrom

Susanna

Sandstrom, Susanna

Author

text

working paper

Chestnut Hill, Mass. Center for Retirement Research at Boston College20042004monographic

Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Center for Retirement Research at Boston College

2004

monographic

Englisheng

English

eng

electronicapplication/pdfborn digital

electronic

application/pdf

born digital

Over the past 40 years, great strides have been made in reducing poverty among the elderly in most rich countries. Pensioner poverty, however, has not been eradicated, especially in the Anglo-speaking nations. Poverty rates among older women are much higher than those for older men and much higher in the United States compared to other nations. In general, poverty rates rise with both age and changes in living arrangements, though living alone has a greater effect for women. Poverty rates among older women are highest among the divorced, widowed, and never married (all of which are also expected to rise significantly over the next decades). The challenge is to design retirement benefit systems that guarantee a minimum standard of living for all elderly women, while also preserving incentives for self financed retirement.

Timothy M. Smeeding and Susanna Sandstrom.

CRR WP2004-29

CRR WP

2004-29

http://crr.bc.edu/images/stories/Working_Papers/wp_2004-29.pdf

MChBEnglisheng

MChB

Englisheng

English

eng