Consumer Federation of America tries to provide more in-depth analysis of situation facing specific population

By MICHELLE GEORGE

Read the original article at the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette.

FAIRFIELD COUNTY - Women who live alone or head their own households are bringing home - and saving - less money than the average American family.

At least that's what a recent analysis on female spending habits from the Consumer Federation of America suggests. Single women, including those who are divorced or widowed, reportedly are earning less and setting aside little to no money for emergencies.

That fact has Catherine Montalto, co-author of the analysis and associate professor at The Ohio State University, concerned about the financial challenges single women might face in tough economic times.

"Not only do they have less income, but they are lacking in emergency funds, money you need to cover those unexpected expenses," Montalto said.

The study suggests the median income of single women in the U.S. is $22,592 - a difference of 52 percent from the median income of $43,130 for all U.S. households.

Montalto based her research off the 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances, which is collected every three years by the Federal Reserve Board. The 2007 figures are due out later this year.

"That's the best data we have to look at financial holdings of houses in the U.S.," Montalto said. "It asks questions about behavior and attitudes and about credit and saving."

The analysis was sponsored by CFA, an advocacy group that investigates consumer issues, behavior and attitudes using surveys, polling, focus groups and literature reviews, according to its Web site, www.consumerfed.org.

The agency also has a campaign called America Saves, in which a broad coalition of nonprofit, corporate and government groups help individuals and families save and build wealth, according to the America Saves Web site, www.americasaves.org.

Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the CFA, said the organization launched the study because the America Saves program primarily serves women.

"It has made us sensitive to the financial needs of women," Brobeck said. "Typical studies on women don't distinguish between those in a household with two incomes and those in a household with just one."

Valerie Irion, workforce development director for the Lancaster-Fairfield Community Action Agency, said she's not surprised by the analysis findings.

Irion has seen her share of single women, particularly single moms, sit in on financial literacy sessions the agency plays host to every year.

"It's interesting because it is primarily single woman and mothers who are trying to figure out the whole process of saving," Irion said. "The expendable cash is simply not there and they want to know, 'how do I make the most out of what I have?' "

Irion said she teaches the women and men who attend the financial literacy sessions to get in the habit of putting away just $5 a week in savings.

"A good rule of thumb for everybody is, if you can keep in a savings (account) what you need for a month, that's a start," Irion said.

Becky DeVoss, a nurse at Fairfield Medical Center, agreed that it is hard to save when you're single.

DeVoss will conduct a class in January at FMC to teach people how to save on their grocery bills with the help of coupons.

"It's difficult to put money away, but the money I saved from coupons went into my savings account," said DeVoss, who accumulated $3,000 a year in coupon savings.

Montalto said she hopes the study will make women more aware of how important it is to save money.

"The message we wanted people to take away from this was to raise awareness of emergency funds," Montalto said. "People who don't have emergency funds are vulnerable and having some money on hand can make a big difference."

Additional Facts

On the Web

The complete report, "The Financial Condition of Women on Their Own," is available on the Consumer Federation of America's Web site, www.consumerfed.org, under the "What's New" section.