Document 88: "Older Women," in Susanna Downie, Decade of Achievement: 1977- 1987: A Report on a Survey Based on the National Plan of Action for Women (Washington, D.C.: National Women's Conference Committee, 1988), pp. 58-59.
p. 58
OLDER WOMEN
NATIONAL PLAN GOALS:
Social and health services should enable the older woman to live with dignity and security. This would include, but is not limited to:
• housing that provides security and comfort
• home health and social services, with the full range of alternatives to institutional care
• preventive health care services
• public transportation for the housebound, in urban AND rural areas
• continuing education
• geriatric education in training of all medical personnel
• elimination of inequities in social security benefits, including recognition of economic value of homemaking
• passage of the Displaced Homemakers bill
• phase-out of mandatory retirement
Some representative data:
• Between 1960 and 1980, the number of Americans over the age of 65 increased by 54% (while the population as a whole increased by only 26%)
• The "Old old", those over 85, increased by 141% during that same time period, and is the fastest growing age cohort in the U.S. 70% of the old old are women.
• Two thirds of single elderly women live alone, not only because women as a group live longer than men, but because women tend to marry men older than themselves. The majority of elderly men live with their spouse.
• The median annual income of single elderly women (1984) was $6,500 ($4,420 for Black women, $4,820 for Hispanic women, $10,400 for all over-65 men). Of the 4 million elderly living in poverty, 75% are women.
• Women are the majority of care-givers. Adult female relatives (mostly wives or daughters) provide 62% of long-term care. Because of declines in both fertility and mortality, the "average" woman today will spend 17 of her adult years caring for a dependent child, and 18 years as the daughter of an elderly parent.
• In the 1980 census, there were 11.5 million displaced homemakers, of whom 79% were over 45 years of age, 22% had dependent children, and 39% were living in poverty, (A Dept. of Labor survey in 1976 found that there were only 4.1 million, but it is not clear whether the DOL data were accurate. The 1980 census is the most recent and most reliable source of data on displaced homemakers.)
• 54% of all women between the ages of 45 and 64 work outside the home, 77% of them in non-professional occupations, principally clerical, sales, service, or factory work. Older women (over 45) make up 12% of the labor force (1986).
• In spite of the passage of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act in 1967, which protects workers between ages 40 and 70, many employers continue to regard older women as less desirable as employees, discounting skills gained in volunteer work or unpaid work in the home, and preferring recent high school or college graduates in "entry-level" jobs.
• Between fiscal 1981 and 1988, federal spending for social services and programs that serve the disadvantaged (including the elderly) was cut 54%, making a $44.7 billion hole in the "safety net". Housing subsides have been cut by $32 billion since 1981. Housing assistance for the elderly and the handicapped has been cut by 47%.
We can expect the statistics to get worse as long as the federal government continues to abdicate responsibility for the more disadvantaged of its citizens. Nevertheless, women themselves have been organizing on older women's issues:
The Older Women's League was founded in 1980, and is now a healthy 17,000 strong, with 100 chapters in 35 states. More and more, OWL is the voice of older women where policy is being made. OWL's current agenda focuses on Social Security and pension equity, access to affordable health care, support for family caregivers, jobs and employment discrimination, and federal budget priorities. Though the statistics on older women's poverty and other problems show we are still at the beginning of bringing about the changes outlined in the Plan, OWL has contributed to a growing public awareness of the issues, and clearer definition of the problems at all levels.
Another important development in the last decade is the Women's Initiative of the American Association of Retired Persons. Launched in 1983, along with Initiatives on Worker Equity, Health Care, and Minority Affairs, the Women's Imitative draws on the resources provided by AARP's 27 million members and its general committment to quality of life for all older Americans. The Women's Initiative newsletter serves as a clearinghouse for all national women's organizations concerned with women over 50. Another newsletter, Network News, is sponsored by the International Federation on Aging in cooperation with AARP, and provides a global link for midlife and older women, with a global perspective.
The National Coalition on Older Women's Issues was
founded in 1981 to bring together women's and other organizations concerned
with the status of midlife and older women. The coalition includes church
groups, civic organizations, professional
p. 59
The National Council on the Aging, founded in 1950, has always served as a resource for advocacy, publications, and research on aging. In the early 80's they began two programs of interest to women:
•• The Family Caregivers Program was begun in 1981, and in 1987 a new membership group on Family Caregivers of the Aging was instituted. The Program trains local service provider agencies to form support groups for family caregivers of older individuals and to make referrals to other support groups.
••"Facing Our Future" is an educational program for mid-life women which stimulates participants to look at their situation realistically and to plan for a desirable future, whether they are working inside or outside the home. The program provides information on health, pensions, Social Security, IRA's financial planning, and employment, and promotes development of positive attitudes about aging, emotional concerns, planning skills, and formation of mutual support networks to bring about beneficial change. There is a 195-page leadership manual, first produced in 1985.
The Displaced Homemakers Network was founded in 1975 (see also Homemakers), by Tish Sommers and Laurie Shields, to increase economic self-sufficiency options for displaced homemakers and to influence public policy. Since so many of the women they were trying to serve were mid-life or older women, DHN has developed expertise and information in many areas of interest to older women, DHN has developed expertise and information in many areas of interest to older women, including pension equity, vocational training, and self-employment. DHN publishes a Directory of Programs for Displaced Homemakers, listed by state.
The National Commission on Working Women (see also Employment) was founded in 1977 to do advocacy and public education about the "80%", the nearly 40 million women workers who are in non-professional occupations, 14 million of whom are over 45. In their research and policy development they have included many older women's issues: age discrimination in employment, occupational health, and images of older women on television.
Prime Time Women: In 1986, the Commission conducted a survey of TV programming, called "Prime Time Women", to track changes in the frequency and quality of TV images of older women. The study found that the number of older women (over 50) appearing in various roles on TV has tripled since 1975, and is now 20% of all female characters in TV land. Of these newly numerous "golden girls", 26% are portrayed as being millionaires, 68% are middle class, 5% are working class, and non are poor. In the real world, 38% of all women are over 50, and only .2% of women over 50 have annual incomes over $75,000. But, according to the report, older women are not only more visible, they are no longer stereotyped in a negative manner. Some older women are seen as very active and positive, such as Jessica Fletcher (played by Angela Lansbury) in "Murder, She Wrote". The report was written by Sally Steenland and is available from the Commission. The Commission also conducts Media Watch training workshops for older women's groups.
Last, but far from least, there is The Gray Panthers Network, founded in 1974 by Maggie Kuhn. Maggie was a community activist in Philadelphia who was forced to leave her job at age 65. She met with a few others like herself and they decided to organize to change laws and attitudes that arbitrarily shove people aside just because they are old. "Gray Panthers" was a tag name used by the Philadelphia press because of the confrontational style Maggie and her crew had to adopt in order to be heard. Today, Gray Panthers is 50,000 strong and nationwide, working in hundred of communities on issues of poverty, housing (including nursing home reform), and health care. The Gray Panthers Project Fund is the tax-deductible branch of the organization.
-- Mary Kercherval Short, Secretary for Women's Concerns, Women's Division
of the Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church
RESOURCES:
Older Women's League, 1325 G St. NW Lower Level, Washington DC 20005, (202) 783-6686.
American Association of Retired Persons/Women's Initiative, 1909 K St. NW, Washington DC 20049. (202) 872-4700. Elisabeth Mullen, Staff Specialist.
National Coalition on Older Women's Issues, 2401 Virginia Ave. NW, Washington DC 20037. (202) 466-7834. Publishes a Resource Directory on Midlife and Older Women.
National Council on the Aging, 600 Maryland Ave. SW, Washington DC 20024. (202) 479-1200. Jane Deren in project director for "Facing Our Futures".
Displaced Homemaker's Network, 1010 Vermont Ave. NW Suite 817, Washington DC 20005. (202) 628-6767, 888.
National Commission on Working Women (merged in 1987 with Wider Opportunities for Women), 1325 G St. NW lower level, Washington DC 20005. (202) 737-5764.
Women's Division, Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Church, 110 Maryland Ave. NE, Washington DC 20002. (202) 488-5662.
Gray Panthers Network, 311 S. Juniper St. Suite 601, Philadelphia PA 19107. (215) 382-3300.
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