In a first of its kind event in the D.C. metro area earlier this week, panelists discussed the obstacles to economic security faced by older women in the community. The community dialogue, held at Nixon Peabody LLP, was co-hosted by Washington Area Women’s Foundation and Legal Counsel for the Elderly. It is one discussion in a series that The Women’s Foundation is holding to talk about the findings of the recent report 2010 Portrait of Women & Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area (Portrait Project 2010). The report takes a comprehensive look at the lives of women and girls in the Washington region.
Portrait Project 2010 found that:
- Older women in our region are slightly more likely to be poor (8.7 percent) versus women overall.
- Women in the oldest age groups have even higher poverty rates, with 12 percent of women aged 75 to 84 being poor.
- Social Security is the only source of income for almost 30 percent of women aged 75 and older and women’s median Social Security benefit was just $10,575 in 2008 (the most recent year data was available before the report was published). That’s about $4,000 lower than men’s Social Security benefits.
- Between 2000-2008, the population of women over 65 grew by 18 percent in the region, compared to 5 percent growth in the population of all women
“55 is the speed limit, not the age limit,” said David Gamse of the Jewish Council for the Aging. “Older women face discrimination in housing, credit and especially employment.”
Sylvia Snowden, a client of Legal Counsel for the Elderly, said that Social Security benefits and owning her own home are the only things that have kept her from being homeless.
“Because we’ve become old and gray we are not utilized,” she said. “We are discarded.”
“I worked for 30 years and raised three children but I always had low-paying jobs,” Faye Schimmel, another panelist, said. “Without being able to draw on my husband’s Social Security, I’d have hundreds of dollars less each month.”
Daniela de la Piedra of Legal Counsel for the Elderly explained that many older women receive fewer Social Security benefits than men because they were often paid less during their working years.
Panelists also stressed the need for companies to understand the value in hiring older employees, a clearer explanation of public programs and policies, and more older women advocating on their own behalf.
2010 Portrait of Women & Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area is available online.
Q: Which First Lady of the United States was an advocate for civil rights, worked to enhance the status of women, but opposed the Equal Rights Amendment?
Equality and justice. Of all the obligations that any elected official has, dedication to these guiding principles is most important. As we all know, the push for equality among the genders is a struggle that has stretched for decades and centuries. During the 20th Century, we saw the failure of the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1980s, even as protections for civil rights and voting rights were enshrined in the law nearly twenty years earlier. Equality and justice had been secured for all of us when classified by race or ethnicity, but those laws were silent on gender. As citizens, we all have an obligation to continue to strive for girls and women to have the same opportunities that boys and men have long enjoyed.
Q: Who was the journalist, activist and spokesperson who co-founded a number of ventures, including Ms. magazine, the Ms. Foundation for Women, Choice USA and the Women’s Media Center?
Thursday March 24th, 2011 is a day that will always live vividly in my memories. It was my Inaugural Cocktail Party as Ms. Maryland United States 2011. Not only was it special because so many came out to enjoy this wonderful occasion and wish me well, but it was dear to me because each non-profit partner that I reached out to was in attendance.
Q: Who is the woman who’s listed in the Guinness Book of Records for being the first woman to become a millionaire by her own achievements?
Over the years it has been noted that there’s a definite discrepancy in the traditional media coverage of men’s and women’s NCAA basketball. However, as a Connecticut native and a UConn fan, lack of recognition for women’s basketball is a foreign concept to me.
Q: In addition to becoming the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, this woman was also a member of the National Women’s Party and an early supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.
Q: Who was the woman who led the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years and advised multiple U.S. presidents on Civil Rights issues?
Q: Who was the first woman to become chief of a Native American nation?