You! High-powered woman! When you consider your biggest fears, what gets top billing? Death? Small spaces? Losing everything except a whole bunch of bags and becoming a bag lady? According to a recent survey, the chances of you responding "Oh, god — the bag lady one. Definitely the bag lady one" are much higher than you would think.
In a poll by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, 49% of the women surveyed said that they feared becoming a bag ladies, which, if you didn't already know, is a homeless woman who can fit all of her belongings into shopping bags that she then has to cart around all day. The fear was most present in women who were single, divorced or who had lost their spouses, but many married women expressed similar fears. The worry was also not entirely dependent on income, with 27% of women who earn more than $200,000 a year responding that they, too, are scared of ending up as bag ladies. Well, at least their bags will be very expensive purses.
The survey polled over 2,200 women between the ages 25 and 75 who had a minimum household income of $30,000 a year. They also found that 60% women consider themselves to be the household breadwinner and 54% of women say that the handle their household finances.
Despite the extreme financial fears of nearly half of the respondents, 57% of the women polled also said that the "have more earning power than ever before," which is awesome except that 42% felt that being financially independent made them less desirable to men and 31% said that financially independent women were hard to relate to.
Come on, y'all. Don't fear financial freedom and how it makes you look to other people! Best case scenario, people are actually impressed by your success and appreciate you for it. Worst case scenario, we all take to the streets and form a gang of high-rolling bag ladies who fight crime while blasting "Independent Women, Part 1." There's nothing to fear, but fear itself!
Almost half of American women fear becoming bag ladies, study says [LA Times]
DISCUSSION
I wonder if European women have the same fear? Japanese? Canadian?
This is an interesting statistic, but only because it's fascinating as a launching point for more interesting questions about our feelings of being insecure in society today. Is this something that is particularly endemic to American women? Is it higher in women than men (I don't ask about men because "OMG THE MEN," but because it's good to have a control in order to make a comparative study)? Can we compare this stat to women and/or men in other countries?
I'm betting that women feel less secure for various structural and social reasons, but I'd like to confirm that bet.