Although the pauperization of women reaches across all age groups, it especially hits elderly black women, one half of whom are poor or marginally poor. Services can be used to enhance the survival or quality of life of aged persons, but, in recent years, services to the aged have been reduced as a result of fiscal retrenchment policies. The study presented in this article examined the self-reported social service needs of black women, aged 60 and older. It found that some of the services that are essential to the maintenance of independent living and for assistance in obtaining services have been cut back as a result of these policies.
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