Old-Age Poverty

In the absence of social and legal protection, he said in his message, widowed womens lifetime earnings and savings are often too little to avoid poverty.   Even in countries with good pension coverage, women are significantly more likely to suffer poverty i…

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Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres message for International Widows Day, observed on 23 June: International Widows Day invites us to consider the economic hardship and increased vulnerability that these bereaved women can face. In the absenc…

Jared Diamond argues (in Upheaval) that modern Japan is facing a crisis, of sorts: Japan today has the worlds third-largest economy, only recently overtaken by Chinas. Japans national output is high both because Japan has a large population (second on…

Michelle Treanor at a Dollar General Corp. store in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, Emile Wamsteker/Bloomberg BLOOMBERG NEWS  On average, older Americans have a more secure retirement than ever. But even as aggregate retirement savings are rising, tens …

GENEVA—Swiss women turned out by the thousands Friday for a nationwide strike and demonstrations signalling their frustration over deep-rooted inequalities in one of the richest countries in the world. The women skipped work and shunned household responsibil…

Organizers worked for a year preparing for Fridays strike and appeared to have mobilized broad support, attracting trade unions, university staff members, students, church groups and female farmers to the march. Its the beginning of a new movement, Flavia W…

Reverse mortgages -- complex home loans -- are aggressively marketed to elderly people, especially in African-American neighborhoods, using deceptive tactics that offer false promised to "eliminate monthly payments permanently" with "a risk-free way of being …

An engaging wooden canoe seat takes its pride of place behind glass at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). Engraved on the canoe seat is a spider and its web, a reference to Anansi, the iconic West African folk figure. Eleven…

opinionBy Tee NgugiTwo years ago, an elderly Kenyan woman, back home from a visit to her children and grandchildren living in a European country, told eager relatives and friends her impressions of that first-time visit. I was curious to hear what she would …