What will you be when you grow old, little girl?

Alive. Women tend to live longer than men. In Illinois they make up 61 percent of all the people over 65.

Alone. In Illinois 38 percent of older women live alone compared to 15 percent of older men.

Poor. The median income of older women in our state is 56 percent of the median income of older men. In Illinois older women account for 73 percent of elderly people living below the poverty level.

Gutsy. "Growing old is not for sissies."

What is the poverty level?

It changes. But in 1985 it was $5,250 for a single person and $7,050 for a married couple.

There are 102,736 women and 38,249 men over 65 living in poverty in Illinois

Besides the 14 percent of Illinois women over 65 actually living in poverty, 216,569 older women or 53 percent have incomes hovering at $7,875 per year or $656 a month for a single person — 150 percent of the poverty level.

In contrast 92,137 older men or 19 percent had incomes at this level.

If you can't be white, be married

In 1983 the single woman over 65, who lived alone or with nonfamily members, had a median income of $6,938 while the median income of elderly couples or families headed by an elderly person was $16,862.

In Illinois, 15,328 older women living alone and 3,974 older men have incomes of less than $2,000.

If you are old and female in Illinois, where are you living?

Sixty-nine percent of older women in Illinois live in urban areas: 38 percent in the central cities and 31 percent in the suburban fringe. Almost all elderly black, Hispanic and Asian women live in these areas. One out of three elderly black women and one out of four elderly Hispanic women are poor.

Sixteen percent of older women in Illinois live in rural areas, and 15 percent live in small towns. The poverty rate for these women is probably over 21 percent.

Source: The Status of Older Women in Illinois Today, Task Force on Older Women in Illinois. November 1986.

Where are you living if you're over 85?

Probably in California, Florida, Illinois, New York. Ohio, Pennsylvania or Texas. Those states are home to 44 percent of the people in the U.S. who are over 85 years old. Seven out of 10 of these people are women.

Source: "A State by State Look at the Oldest Americans," by Charles F. Longino Jr. American Demographics. November 1986.

What will you do when you grow old, little girl?

Take care of people. Your parents. Your husband's parents. Your husband. Your friends.

When they suffer from long-term chronic illnesses like stroke and Alzheimers, you will be their nurse, companion, physical therapist, dietician, cook, chauffeur, legal and financial consultant, networker and general all-round advocate.

Seventy-eight percent of all caregivers are women.

Source for statistics: The Status of Older Women in Illinois Today.

A bright spot in the trade wars

Exports of arms from the U.S. increased from $10 billion in 1980 to $24 billion in 1984, while imports rose from $4.6 billion to $7.7 billion. In fact, arms were the only major sector where the balance in trade actually improved between 1980 and 1984.

A cloud over Illinois

The arms industry is not exactly thriving here. In real dollars Illinois' prime defense contracts fell from $3.4 billion in 1951 to $0.6 billion in 1984.

This is partly because of the shift to high tech weaponry. Defense spending is now concentrated on states in the "defense perimeter" — a line that begins in New England, descends through Long Island south to Florida, moves on to Texas, the southwestern states and California and then up to Washington and Alaska.

The share of steel output accounted for by the defense spending has fallen to around 10 percent, while the defense share of telecommunications is expected to exceed 60 percent by 1987.

What else is hot?

In the ultra-specialized world economy of the 1980s the U.S. appears to excel in electronics, pharmaceuticals, and mass culture.

Also business services.

Source: "Regional Disparities in the 1980s: The roles of Trade and Cold War." Ann Markusen, Northwestern University. Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research.

How stable is all this?

Not very.

Source: "The Militarized Economy," Ann Markusen. World Policy Journal. Summer 1986.

General Funds

The general funds balance at the end of December was $98,854 million, and the average daily available balance was $76,762 million — both higher than in November.

Source: Office of the State Comptroller.

Unemployment rates drop again

The state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stayed at 7.4 percent in December, while the nation's dropped to 6.7 percent, the lowest since March 1980. Illinois' annual average unemployment rate in 1986 was 8.1 percent, the lowest since 1979 when it was 5.5 percent.

In December there were 5.646 million people in the state's civilian labor force; 5.231 million people had jobs, and 415,000 were looking for work. Seasonal retail hiring and unsually good construction weather helped employment.

Final October unemployment rates in the state's major metro areas were:
Aurora-Elgin, 5.8 percent.
Bloomington-Normal, 4.4 percent.
Champaign-Urbana-Rantoul, 3.9 percent.
Chicago, 6.9 percent.
Davenport-Rock Island-Moline (Illinois sector), 9.9 percent.
Decatur, 9.7 percent.
Joliet, 6.7 percent.
Kankakee, 8.5 percent.
Lake County, 4.7 percent.
Peoria, 7.7 percent.
Rockford, 8.5 percent.
Springfield, 5.0 percent.
St. Louis (Illinois sector), 8.2 percent.

Source: Department of Employment Security.

28/February 1987/Illinois Issues