ABSTRACT
Along with the overall improvements in poverty, many expect that the relative economic status of older women will improve. This chapter presents an examination of the changes and their implications for later-life economic security of women in the future. Given major changes in gender roles over the life course, it explores whether there will be a movement toward a more equal distribution of poverty risks and economic security among males and females by the time the baby boom generation reaches retirement and whether the later life gender gap in poverty is really likely to disappear. Among the specific areas where changes are likely to have major influences on the odds of poverty for future cohorts of elderly women are labor-force participation; family issues; social policy modifications; and increasing life expectancy. While a variety of researchers have dealt with pieces of this puzzle, they are seldom discussed together, noting their interrelationships.
