There is a new poverty on the horizon. The American Dream is eluding many middle class female baby boomers. As the economic climate changes and the divorce rate has increased over the years the women who enjoyed Peace, Love, and Woodstock are finding the Golden Years becoming gray and overcast. One Los Angeles’ woman’s story is both relevant and moving. She shared it with the promise of anonymity.
“I grew up in the seventies. Woman’s liberation was butting heads with the marriage minded college graduate. I fell somewhere in the middle. A Bachelor of Arts Degree did not go far. It got me a string of jobs in sales. There is a difference between a job and a career. I was not assertive and so fell through the proverbial cracks, earning enough money to get by. It was not enough to buy me a lifestyle or a savings. I always thought of marriage as the career of choice. I never believed it would end in divorce.”
While studies have determined that the overall divorce rate has held steady or declined since the 1980s, it's not so for those over 50.
The National Center for Family & Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University found that the divorce rate for boomers and older couples has more than doubled over the past three decades, and it's expected to increase.
http://www.thirdage.com/divorce/divorce-rate-rising-for-baby-boomers
The divorce rate among boomers has jumped recently and that number is only expected to climb. Statistics from the National Center for Family & Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University show that despite the overall divorce rate in the U.S. dropping over the last 20 years, the divorce rate among people age 50 and over has doubled.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/23/baby-boomer-divorce-upward-trend_n_883186.html
The Baby Boomers 1946-1955 still hold the highest divorce rates of any cohort in U.S. history. Their unprecedented high divorce rates raised the overall divorce rates for the entire nation and contributed in part to the myth of half of all marriages ending in divorce.
http://freebooks.uvu.edu/SOC1200/index.php/ch12-divorce-and-separation.html
“It started out backwards. We met, I was floundering, my clock was ticking, and I became pregnant. There were red flags from the beginning and a Prenuptial Agreement. I chose to ignore the terms of the agreement and the red flags. I wanted the June Cleaver lifestyle.”
Divorce creates financial hardship for both spouses, but most glaringly for the wife/now-single mother. It usually significantly lowers a woman’s standard of living by reducing income and increasing expenses. Studies show that women’s disposable income falls on average nearly 30 percent and that four times as many divorced single mothers live below the poverty line compared to their married counterparts.
http://tomorrowsmoney.org/Templates/tm/Content.aspx?id=367
“My children were young. I was older. We were all traumatized. I had not worked in almost ten years and did not have basic office skills or a career to fall back on. I was not allowed to move away with my children, walking distance was preferred and in the children's best interest. We lived in the most expensive section of Los Angeles."
The child poverty rate in California’s largest county, Los Angeles, is 21%.
http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/jtf/JTF_ChildPovertyJTF.pdf
States in the South and more rural states tended to have higher percentages of single mothers in poverty. By county, urban counties like Los Angeles County and Cook County, Ill. had the greatest number of single mother-led homes.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2002-07-19-census-single-moms_x.htm
“I stayed home with the children for six years. I was committed to giving them a stable home and being there for them. The divorce was hard enough and childcare is a fortune. I was given enough money to cover our living expenses. I slowly tried to figure out what I could do in my mid-fifties. It had been almost fifteen years since my last job. I finally landed a job as a teacher’s aid.”
A recent report from Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research shows that single-parent families believe their economic stability, role as parents and financial providers, and sense of well-being are all negatively impacted by the challenges inherent in single parenthood. At the same time, single parents remain hopeful and express deep commitment to their families and believe in their ability to provide a strong home life and future for their children despite the obstacles.
http://www.thegrio.com/money/single-mothers-need-pathway-out-of-poverty.php
“When my oldest child turned 18 everything changed. I lost more than half my child support. We moved twice in three years."
“I currently work 30 hours per week as a teacher’s aid. I get paid only when school is in session. There are 160 days of instruction between September and June with no work over the summer. Each year my hourly rate goes up between five to fourteen cents. There are no raises. I get sick days and health benefits. My net is $14,000 per year."
“The support for my youngest child, 17, pays the rent. My income and savings left over from my marriage pays for everything else. I want to apply for food stamps but I think they want you to be completely destitute. There are so many expenses, it’s impossible to keep up.”
“To compound the problem my relationships with both my children are strained. I can’t do anything right. They don’t want to hear what I can and cannot afford. They don’t think I work hard. They pit me against their father. At some point over the years we have all been in and out of therapy.”
Since most children live with their mothers after divorce, one might expect that the mother-child bond would remain unaltered and might even be strengthened. Yet research shows that the mother-child bond is also weakened as the result of divorce. Only half of the children who were close to their mothers before a divorce remained equally close after the divorce. Boys, particularly, had difficulties with their mothers. Moreover, mother-child relationships deteriorated over time. Whereas teenagers in disrupted families were no more likely than teenagers in intact families to report poor relationships with their mothers, 30 percent of young adults from disrupted families have poor relationships with their mothers, as compared with 16 percent of young adults from intact families. Mother-daughter relationships often deteriorate as the daughter reaches young adulthood. The only group in society that derives any benefit from these weakened parent-child ties is the therapeutic community. Young adults from disrupted families are nearly twice as likely as those from intact families to receive psychological help.
http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/civilization/cc0039.html
“When my youngest turns 18 the child support ends. Unless I find another job, or a second and third job my income will be $14,000 a year at age 59. I’ve sent out hundreds of resumes over the past two years. I’ve even been rejected from retail. I have emotionally and socially shut down and have long abandoned marriage as the career of choice. I was raised upper middle class. I don’t know how I got here. I’m afraid of where I’m going.”
We cannot merely focus on moving women-headed families above the poverty line. Rather we should consider ways to help them transform their lives from just surviving to actually thriving, with an increase in the number of women holding quality jobs; more low-income families with bank accounts, savings and increased financial knowledge; and ultimately, significantly fewer single-mother families living at or below 200 percent of the poverty line. Let's honor these mothers with fresh thinking, innovative models and policy decisions that will actually change the trajectory of their lives and those of their children.
http://www.thegrio.com/money/single-mothers-need-pathway-out-of-poverty.php
Baby boomers without marketable job skills, single boomers, and non- homeowners risk a bleaker economic future. The absence of one or all three indicators – education, marriage, and home ownership could seriously skew chances of a secure retirement. Nancy Dailey’s When BabyBoomers Retire, Praeger Publishers 1998, page 84
Many older people looking for divorce help in Pasadena often voice concerns about their financial future. With a bleak economy and dismal job market mixed with little or no retirement savings, older Americans of any marital status have plenty to be concerned about. Now a new study commissioned by the Salvation Army finds that older divorcees have one more serious issue to worry about: homelessness.
Entitled "No Home at the End of the Road," the study examines the overwhelming housing stress currently affecting older single women. Divorced Baby Boom generation women, according to the findings, are one of the most financially vulnerable groups and are at a high risk of poverty and homelessness as they grow older.
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