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National Women's Law Center - Don't Discount Women: Demand Fair Change Not Spare Change
We’ve crunched the numbers. And they aren’t good.

The Census Bureau released new data on poverty in the United States. You may have heard that poverty rates overall were stuck at record levels. That’s bad enough — and our analysis has turned up even more disturbing information about older women.

Last year, Americans 65 and older — the majority of whom are women — saw significant increases in extreme poverty. That means their annual income is only about $5,500 or less.

Ironically, this is the exact same group that some Members of Congress like to target for cuts — especially around Social Security.

Enough is enough. People need know the truth. Please post this image to Facebook.

Infographic - The number of women 65 & older living in extreme poverty jumped 23% last year

This new finding is just one result from NWLC’s comprehensive analysis of recent Census data. Other key findings include:

  • Poverty rates for women were once again higher than for men. The poverty rate for women was 14.5 percent, compared to 11.0 percent for men.
  • Poverty rates are especially high for women of color, women who head families, foreign-born women, and elderly women living alone.
  • More than half of all poor children lived in families headed by women. More than one in five children — more than 16 million — were poor.
  • The gender wage gap hasn’t budged. Women working full-time, year-round were typically paid only 77 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts — just like they were a decade ago.

The increase in extreme poverty among the elderly should send an especially strong message to policy makers: They should take cuts to Social Security off the table, and start working on improving benefits instead. And they should start working on bringing down those other high poverty rates, by ending the sequester and making investments that create jobs and expand opportunities.

Sincerely,

Joan Entmacher Joan Entmacher 
Vice President, Family Economic Security 
National Women’s Law Center