The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences Advance Access originally published online on February 10, 2009
The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 2009 64B(3):402-414; doi:10.1093/geronb/gbn045
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The Income and Wealth Packages of Older Women in Cross-National Perspective
1 The Graduate Center of the City University of New York and the Luxembourg Income Study, New York
2 Centre d'Etudes de Populations, de Pauvreté et de Politiques Socio-Economiques (CEPS/INSTEAD) and DIW Berlin, Germany
3 Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Address correspondence to Janet Gornick, PhD, c/o The Luxembourg Income Study at the City University of New York. The Graduate Center, Room 6203.07, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4309. Email: jgornick{at}gc.cuny.edu
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Abstract |
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Objectives: We assess the income and wealth packages of older women's (age 65+ years) households and the extent to which low income is paired with low wealth, across a group of six high-income countries.
Methods: We use data on income and net worth from the Luxembourg Wealth Study, a new cross-national microdatabase. We define income poverty as having household income less than 50% of the national median and asset poverty as holding financial assets equivalent to less than 6 months of income at the poverty threshold.
Results: Older women typically have less income than do members of younger households at the national median, but their wealth holdings are generally much higher than their country's median wealth holdings. Older women's households in the United States report the highest net worth across these countries, in part because older American women have comparatively high rates of homeownership. However, American older women are also substantially more likely to be income poor. They also report high levels of asset poverty, as do women across all our comparison countries, with Sweden as a partial exception.
Discussion: Further research is needed to identify the most vulnerable subgroups, to integrate analyses of necessary expenditures, and to assess policy implications.
Key Words: Income • Wealth • Poverty • Comparative • Women • Older
Received July 16, 2008; Accepted December 18, 2008