TOKYO – A growing number of older women in Japan risk falling into poverty after the death of their spouses, or as a result of separation or divorce.
Older widows often depend on survivor’s pensions for income, while fewer now live with their children, who have traditionally provided economic support.
Widows and divorced women aged 75 or older are forecast to make up 7.4% of Japan’s total population in 2040, up 2 percentage points from 2020.
“I eat only cheap pasta for lunch, as I can spare less than 20,000 yen ($135) for food a month,” said a woman in her 70s, who has mostly lived on a survivor annuity after her husband died.
A recent study by Aya Abe, a professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University, found that 32% of widows aged 65 or older were in poverty – defined as a per capita income of less than half the median for the group, adjusted for household size – in 2018, up 8 points from 30 years earlier.
The ministry survey found that a majority of single households headed by those aged 75 or older have less than 5 million yen in savings.
The original article contains 709 words, the summary contains 193 words. Saved 73%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
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TOKYO – A growing number of older women in Japan risk falling into poverty after the death of their spouses, or as a result of separation or divorce.
Older widows often depend on survivor’s pensions for income, while fewer now live with their children, who have traditionally provided economic support.
Widows and divorced women aged 75 or older are forecast to make up 7.4% of Japan’s total population in 2040, up 2 percentage points from 2020.
“I eat only cheap pasta for lunch, as I can spare less than 20,000 yen ($135) for food a month,” said a woman in her 70s, who has mostly lived on a survivor annuity after her husband died.
A recent study by Aya Abe, a professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University, found that 32% of widows aged 65 or older were in poverty – defined as a per capita income of less than half the median for the group, adjusted for household size – in 2018, up 8 points from 30 years earlier.
The ministry survey found that a majority of single households headed by those aged 75 or older have less than 5 million yen in savings.
The original article contains 709 words, the summary contains 193 words. Saved 73%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!