Author Book Discussion – Aging Into Poverty: The Looming Crisis for American Women

While one in five of us will need significant assistance with the activities of daily living or long-term care for more than five years, costing as much as $100,000 per year, about 50% of women ages 55 to 66 have no personal retirement savings. Aging Into Poverty spotlights the looming crisis for American women, their families, and communities. Author Kathy Sharp details the history and public policy decisions that have consigned so many senior women to spend the end of their lives on waiting lists for care and dependent on public assistance.

Aging Into Poverty is a compelling personal narrative drawing from the experience of a caregiver who scrambled to put supports in place as her mother, a retired CPA, outlived her savings as her deteriorating health needs required an escalating level of care. Sharp describes the options for senior care in the United States detailing the budget and eligibility requirements. The system is designed so that the dependent elderly must be impoverished in order to qualify for Medicaid which is the only source of public subsidy for long term care.

Books will be signed and sold for a discounted price of $10 for cash or check. Please bring a donation of a women’s hygiene product to support Bethlehem House of Bread. Books can be purchased ahead of time by contacting Bethlehem House of Bread.

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About the Author

Kathy Sharp draws on her M.A. from Stanford University in Education, her technology background, and her experience in managing federally funded programs to create a compelling work, rich with personal narrative, honest emotion, and extensive policy and services detail. A native Californian, Kathy now lives outside of Portland, Oregon, and is working to combat hunger with the Portland Fruit Tree Project, Hunger Fighters Oregon and the Association of Gleaning Organizations.