More Butler County residents are living longer, and that’s prompting human service agencies to begin rethinking their strategies, especially for senior women because women typically are living longer than men.

There are 27,853 senior citizen county residents, and 57.5 percent are women, according to the 2010 Census. In every age group, women outnumber men.

For the overall senior population in the county, there are 74 men for every 100 women. The numbers are more compelling when broken into more specific age groups.

For those aged 65 to 74, there are 90 men for every 100 women; for ages 75 to 85 years, there are 70 men per 100 women; for those 85 to 89 years, there are 50 men per 100 women; and for those aged 90 years and older, there are only 32 men for every 100 women living.

The service agencies are striving to keep up with the trend.

“YWCA is all about the empowerment of women, said Margaret Clawson, executive director and administrator of the YWCA of Butler. “Anything we can do for the older women we will do it.”

Nevertheless, both women and men are provided housing through the Butler YWCA Personal Care Residence, an assisted living facility that offers independent living options and daily support services.

Clawson said the senior women tend to need more planned activities than the men do. Women seem to be more interested in activities while men are more used to being taken care of.

“It’s harder for senior women to adjust because they are so accustomed to running their own household,” Clawson said.

The Butler County Agency on Aging finds a similar need among senior women to stay active and involved,

“We have a lot of women involved in volunteering,” said Brittany Buzzelli, community liaison for the Agency on Aging.

“With our agency, we do a lot within the senior centers that gets women involved,” Buzzelli said. “It depends on what their interests are.”

It’s more complicated tending to the physical and emotional needs of individual senior citizens, especially for women, she said.

“A lot of them didn’t work so they don’t have pensions to rely on, and their Social Security is lower (than men’s),” Buzzelli said. “It does seem that a majority of women are applying for programs. No one is the same.”

The United Way of Butler County does not separate programs for men and women, said Kierston Hobaugh, executive director.

“Because of the support system and collaboration that does exist between the county and organizations and companies that provide services, I do think that senior women should feel well supported in Butler County,” Hobaugh said.

“We try to collaborate to make sure we are all assisting to the best of our abilities.”

Hobaugh said she’s interested in hearing from senior women — especially those who see a need that is not being met.

Financial choices

Julie C. Anderson, a certified elder law attorney at Stepanian and Menchyk LLP, of Butler, said difficulties sometimes arise when an older woman survives her spouse.

“From a financial standpoint, they can really be compromised,” Anderson said.

She said women age 75 and older typically have lower incomes in their older years than men.

“Their Social Security is quite low since they didn’t work,” Anderson said. “There is not a lot of income protection.”

She said there are options that spouses could have made at the time of retirement. If they neglected to make the right choices when they retired, the wife may suffer from that choice later.

“I’m seeing older females who need care themselves or oftentimes they are trying to care for their husband at home. They are trying to be a caregiver while they are aging and possibly facing their own health issues,” Anderson said. “If he has to go to a facility, some of his income will go to that facility.”

Anderson said spousal protections in the law can protect some of the husband’s income for the wife.

In general, older women were not as involved in investing or large financial decisions, Anderson said.

“They may not have a comfort level with handling those decisions and responsibilities,” she said.

Anderson said a younger family member often will try to assist them. Then the senior doesn’t have to learn about IRAs, stock portfolios and other finances. She can focus more on other concerns such as her health.

“That’s wonderful,” Anderson said. “But sometimes that can open the door for exploitation.”

Sometimes trouble starts when an older person has too many assets and family members work to reduce those assets to increase the senior’s benefits. That can lower her standard of living.

“We always have to maintain their quality of life and their standard of care,” Anderson said.

She said with their lower incomes, seniors may qualify for subsidized housing even though it is not their preference.

Life with mother

Both Hobaugh and Anderson have noticed more adult children coming back to live with their over-65 mothers.

“They are sometimes still supporting, to varying degrees, their adult children,” Anderson said. “They need to be very careful that they are not co-mingling finances and that they are putting themselves and their financial stability and their health first.”

Anderson said when it comes to handling an estate, women often have a greater concern for keeping family harmony intact.

“They are also more worried about getting a plan in place and they want to get their estate planning in order. That may come from being in a caregiver role with their mom and dad,” Anderson said.

Anderson said being without support is a problem across all ages and particularly with older divorcees. If their children live out of the area, they may not have a support network.

Anderson said when a woman loses a spouse early in her senior years, she may consider going back to work.

“Because of the challenges of technology and maybe the issue of age, they may end up re-entering at a lower wage, less skilled job than they are qualified for,” Anderson said.

But there’s a growing recognition that female senior citizens have unique needs, Anderson said.

Clawson doesn’t see much difference in the types of services that are available locally for women and men. She thinks Butler County does well with all the services it provides.

“We’re above average in what we try to do for our citizen seniors,” Clawson said. “I think it’s there if you want it.”

Anderson thinks the county has some advantages in helping senior women.

“We are really blessed with a lot of good people on the staff of these agencies who I think really care about these individuals and take a greater interest than you might find in a larger county,” she said.