Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1922-05-05
NEWARK, OHIO. FRIDAY. MAY 5, 1922
Old Age Pension News
AFTER SIXTY


joint and failing strength warn the
tojler that> his day of independence is
drawing 20 close, where do they
turn? The following presents the
actual situation of the aging MIN and
woman in this country as it has bcen
four great states-Pennsylvan Mas
sachusetts, Wisconsin, and Ohio.
In getting at the exact circum-
st:.ntes. the commissions appointed OF
tie authority of the legislature OF
the States above named made fairly
complete round of the aged inmates
of almshouses and old peoples homes,
local and State boards of charities,
and overseers of the poor The inves-
tissation carried on by the Massa-
chusetts Bureau of Statistics covered
"a ,496 persons sixty-fve years of age
and over. The Pennsylvania COM
mission interviewed 6,075 recipients
of public Or private charity, and can
vassed the aged in total population
of $1,000. The Ohio commission in
vestigated 6,374 inmates of county in
frmaries and old peoples homes, and
canvassed the aged in a total popula-
tion of $4,000 in an industrial section
of the city of Hamilton.
Though working Independently at
different dates, the four commissions
have drawn practically indentical con-
clusions, so that complete reliance may
be placed on most Of their findings.
1t can be said as result of these
Investigations, that 1 in every 5 per-
sons sixty-fve years of age and over
is classed as pauper, and that Lin
every 8 is dependent either on some
charity or on relatives or kind-heart-
ed friends.
1t is to be especially noted in these
Investigations that the diseases ac-
companying old age, rather than old
age per Sc, are the chief factor in
shortening the period of economic
usefulness of the aging man, and in
rendering him ultimately dependent
on others. "Was sick for two or
three years and lost all had" was a
frequent complaint of the persons in
terviewed in almshouses and homes
for the aged by the Ohio commission.
Among women the greatest contri-
buting factor to old age dependency
is widowhood. In Massachusetts 66.2
per cent of dependent women of sixty
five and over were found to be widows.
A similar high percentage of widows
among aged dependent women was
found both in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The problem of poverty in old age
does not appear to be connected with
immigration. The dependent old folk
of Pennsylvania and Ohio, on the
whole, are divided among the native
hn oh
the same proportions as these bear to
each other in the total population.
Nor is poverty in old age problem
of individual thrift. About 10 per
cent of the inmates of poorhouses and
infirmaries and about 20 per cent of
the residents of old people's homes
once had had property or savings
overr $4,000 in value, but sickness or
unemployment or poor investment had
wiped out the surplus. The majority
of the dependents on public charity,
however, had earned but SO to $12
a week, and practically none had ever
earned over $50 week. There could
not be much saving out of that.
If the aged worker or widow has
any property at all at sixty, it is
usually a home, but in Pennsylvania
and in Ohio 62 per cent of those in
terviewed did not have even this stake.
The U. S. Census in 1910 showed IS
per cent of those over sixty-five not
owning their homes.
The number that find homes with
relatives or friends cannot be accu-
rately estimated, but the Ohio Com
mission figured that one in every four
of those over fifty had such home
For example, of 1,432 people over
fifty found in the Hamilton, Ohio,
survey, covering as7op1lation of 49,
600, 354 were dependent on children
or other relatives-a proportion of l
in A. At this rate of calculation, the
total of the persons over fifty in this
industrial State who are dependent on
relatives or friends would fall near
$1,000.
In it's house to house canvass, Penn
sylvania found that of $3.50 families
studied, so per cent of the aged inter-
viewed were still heads of their house
holds; 7.3 per cent lived alone; 32.4
per cent lived with children, and 8.5
with other relatives or friends.
A final aggravation of old age
poverty and the tragedies it entails
is that the loss of the '1ast job" often
finds the old man with dependents of
his own-minor children, when mar
riage was entered into late; a de-
fective son or daughter; sometimes
orphaned grandchildren. In the Ohio
survey Is per cent of the 1,432 per-
sons over fifty in Hamilton had one
or more dependents, IL per cent, two
Or more, and 10 per cent, three or
more. Seven per cent of the 416 aged
persons over sixty interviewed in a
sectiAn of Cincinnati had two or more
dependents. In Pennsylvania house
to house survey 31.5 per cent had
their wives TO support, while 30.7 per
cent had one or more children de-
pending on them.
Aged parents, when asked Tin
Ohio) if they could expect any assist
ance from their children, generally re-
piled that the children already had
| sufficient responsibilities of their own.
| There are no statistics to prove how
grievous burden it is to the children