Old + Female + Poor

"Older women are at greater risk of poverty than older men in all countries where breakdowns are available. The average poverty rate for men equals 8.4% and 12.4% for women."
OECD, 2015:170



In the US, 16% of women over 65 live either at or below poverty versus 12% of older men. Significant factors are discrimination in hiring and salaries, wage and wealth gap, higher health care costs for women, caregiving, part-time jobs, marital status, domestic violence, LGBTQ-status, education, and ethnicity. Black, Hispanic, and Native American older women are two times mor likely to be hit by poverty (via).

In Austria, 16% of women over 65 live at or below poverty in contrast to 10% of men over 65. (Figures are probably higher since statistics only consider people aged 65+, a criterion chosen on the fact that men usually retire at 65. Women, however, often retire at 60 and are not included in statistical data looking at 65+ only.) Living in poverty means that older people have difficulties to make ends meet; it means poor health, substandard housing, and low life satisfaction (via). In Italy, one in four people over the age of 65 are at risk of poverty (via), in Germany one in five (via), and in the UK one in six (via).

Older workers who are laid off still too often enter into early-retirement programmes. This approach, which is internalised by both employers and employees, gives older workers little opportunity to re-train and acquire new skills in order to strengthen their employability. Early retirement also exposes individuals to future poverty as income needs at a much higher age are often underestimated. Early retirement systems should be eliminated, and employment difficulties faced by the elderly should be dealt with by unemployment systems that promote activity as a way to protect and help people remain on the labour market longer. Beyond this, with the tightening of benefit eligibility criteria in most OECD pension systems, ensuring that the labour market is conducive to longer working lives is vital. In that respect, increases in the labour supply of older workers have to be met by a higher demand. Upgrading of skills and lifelong learning will therefore become important to retain older workers in the labour market.
OECD, 2015:32

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- Justice in Aging. (2018). Older Women & Poverty. Special report, December 2018, link
- photograph by Nick Hedges (Brent, 1969)  via