Bag Lady or Powerhouse?
Lillian Zimmerman, 604.224.3300, 778.782.5062; lillian_zimmerman@sfu.ca
Susan Jamieson-McLarnon, PAMR, 778.782.5151
There’s no chance that Lillian Zimmerman will wind up as a “bag lady.” Powerhouse is a more likely description for the long-time research associate of SFU’s Gerontology Research Centre.
Zimmerman’s lively new book, Bag Lady or Powerhouse? A Roadmap for Midlife (Boomer) Women, focuses on issues of major concern to Canadian women as they approach retirement age.
“Will it be gloom, doom and decline? Or affluent agelessness?” she asks. “Women have been advised to expect one of these scenarios as they get older. There is fear of both aging and late-life insecurity.”
Zimmerman says what they need is information and some personal advocacy. “I’d like my readers to gain a surge of confidence about being older, while preparing themselves for some challenges they will face.”
Zimmerman also describes the many positives aspects of future boomer women’s lives, their longevity, their increased independence and the seldom-heralded strengths of friendships.
Among the challenges are lower salaries, inadequate pensions and care giving responsibilities. In 2008, 37 per cent of Canadian women, aged 65+ were either at, or below, the poverty line, before they paid their taxes: what she refers to as the bag lady syndrome. This contrasts with 28 per cent of men 65+ (also before taxes).
Canada has some nine million boomers born between 1946 and 1964, of whom half are women. The first turned 60 in 2006. Some have retired already; and most will be retired by 2030.
Royalties from book sales will help establish a new SFU graduate scholarship in gerontology.
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