Women's Scholarships

Women are twice as likely as men to have
inadequate finances as they age. Seventy-five percent of the elderly poor are women. Intermittent work histories—resulting in less money available for retirement—combined with longer life expectancies are causal factors. Older women need alternatives to ensure they will not age into poverty.

Providing women with opportunities to expand their work options yields multiple dividends for themselves, their families and communities. In 2008, 101 hard-working women with modest incomes began studying their way to a more secure financial future, thanks to the first round of the AARP Foundation Women’s Scholarship Program.

The scholarships are designed to help women aged 40 and older acquire job skills to remain in, or re-enter, the workforce. Access to female mentors also gave recipients the opportunity to build a stronger financial future.

Fueled in large part by individual contributions, nearly $350,000 in scholarships was awarded, with individual grants ranging from $500 to $5,000. These two stories illustrate the life-changing Women’s Scholarship Program:

• Because she is responsible for the care for her grandchildren, Linda worked a variety of part-time jobs at minimum wage. The Women’s Scholarship Program enabled Linda to update her accounting and computer skills so she can compete for better-paying jobs.
• Facing a divorce, and with child-care responsibilities for two sets of twins that kept her out of the workforce for 19 years, Jill realized that her skills were no longer marketable. With assistance from the Women’s Scholarship Program, she will realize her dream of becoming certified as a teacher.