Widowhood is the Fastest Track to Poverty or Near Poverty
Statistics are invisible to change and policy makers.
In a Modern Widows Club survey taken in 2021, with over 1800 widows, nearly half of our widows currently earned $48,000 or less.
$48,000 buys you little security or future to sustain a life or family. In the U.S. a families poverty level threshold is $35,801. The official poverty definition uses money income before taxes and does not include capital gains or non-cash benefits (public housing, Medicaid and food stamps). Learn more on how the U.S Census Bureau measures poverty if of interest.
And the sad part is, that’s actually high income for the majority of widows in the United States, and certainly around the world. Many widows lose 50-100% of their income when a spouse dies, no fault of their own. Widowhood is the fastest track to poverty and yet, it’s unidentified as a specific need. Nor are widows considered either ‘survivors’ or ‘vulnerable’ in most state and federal support systems. Ridiculous!!!
Match that thought to these hard to take statistics.
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