During our February 21 meeting, we heard from Mary Gatta, Associate Professor of Sociology at the City University of New York. Here are a few highlights of her talk.
Compared with men, women suffer from a “retirement gap” due to many factors including the pay gap within occupations, working in “pink collar” lower-paid jobs, and working fewer years because of family care. Retired men report 71% higher income than retired women. While 51% of men had employer-based retirement income, only 37% of women did.
This discrepancy means that more retired women are in poverty, and even more are not able to meet average monthly expenses. The federal poverty level is calculated using an antiquated formula based on food. Nowadays the top expenses for older people are housing and health care. Gatta presented tables showing that housing was the greatest expense for a single elder in good health owning a home with no mortgage, due to utilities, taxes, and insurance. But if he or she is in poor health, health care expenses exceed that. This owner in good health incurs $17,112 per month in expenses in Duval County, while the federal poverty line is $11,700.
Gatta feels that we need a “new social contract” to take care of our elderly. Social Security will need improvements: either we have to increase revenue or cut benefits. As seen above, cutting benefits will further stress those with least resources. They need reforms such as Social Security credit for caregiving. We should also address the cost side with more affordable housing and health care.
AAUW of Jacksonville Florida 