SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2024 - SINGLE OLDER WOMEN

 SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2024 - SINGLE OLDER WOMEN

A friend posted this on Facebook:

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Roughly 20% of older single women live in deep poverty. Many find themselves unhoused. I have two friends who are currently at that point.

Why?

Women earn less throughout their lives, so they have less savings and social security income. They give to their families and assume they’ll be there when they need a hand, but they find this is not true for whatever reason.

These are people who showed up to life and gave what they could and now they are the fastest growing group of unhoused persons.

Next time you come across a homeless older lady, consider the potential if women had truly achieved equality. Perhaps, you could make a significant difference by offering your help.

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Karen adds:

In my community, I see both sides of wealth.  In my bridge group, my Chevy Spark is the cheapest car next to Lexus and other bigger vehicles.  My Church group is the same.

Then in my apartment building, I see more used (and beat up) pickup trucks - for working men.  My friends, MN, RP, and BN don’t have cars and rely on me to give them rides to the grocery store and shopping.  

MN, for example, worked two jobs most of her adult life.  She worked for a bulk item store (where the smallest package of toilet paper would be 36 rolls).  She rounded up carts, filled shelves, ran check out - and probably rarely got more than minimum wage.  She is a kind hearted individual who gives of her time to her neighbors.  

Life can be tough for working, single mothers.  And, life can be tough for older single mothers.

Mothers frequently work two jobs - one that pays minimum and one (cooking, cleaning, laundry, and loving her family) - at no pay.

We, who live in nice neighborhoods, don’t see poverty.  Yes, in my area, I might see a person at a street corner with a sign “Homeless”.  And, I rarely give the person anything.  Once upon a time, I had a case of water behind my passenger seat.  And, if I came to an intersection with a homeless person, I’d grab a water (or two) and give to them.  

I have heard of the stories of people who actually like living on the streets.  I’ve also heard of some panhandlers who made fairly good money. 

“According to a 2021 Sagepub.com review, panhandlers in the United States typically earn between $2–$16 per hour, $20–$60 per day, and $200–$500 per month. However, a 2014 a student found that he could make $11.10 per hour panhandling at a particular exit ramp, which was more than the state's minimum wage at the time. In 2008, a New York person claimed that panhandlers could earn $30,000–$40,000 per year tax-free.

But when the cheapest house on the market is over $200,000 - maybe they will get enough for a cheap apartment.  (My apartment is about $1,500 a month and it is nice - it has a laundry room, apool and an exercise room.  It is pet friendly.)  There are other apartments that are fancier.  Many apartments in my suburb are for seniors and they have vans to take the residents to shop, or to events.

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Do you want to help out?  

Be loving, get your antenna up, listen, hear with the heart, and find out what you can do to help.  

LOVE IS THE ANSWER