We’ve Come a Long Way, Baby…But Not Far Enough?

I was looking at my mortgage statement a few minutes ago. The mortgage is in my name only.

After my husband died, I couldn’t stay in the home we built together. It’s not that I didn’t love the home—I did. But I knew it would eventually become a house that simply would not work for me, for many reasons. There was the PTSD (yes, formally diagnosed). There were a multitude of improvements needed after more than 25 years of living there. And there was the reality that the home would become harder and harder to navigate as my physical abilities diminished with age. I couldn’t see myself climbing fifteen stairs several times just to carry groceries from my car to the kitchen.

The home I’m living in now is much more livable. It’s a single-storey new build that I was able to customize. I love it—and my husband’s love is here just as much as it was in the other house.

What I didn’t realize until recently is how new it actually is for a single woman to hold a mortgage in her own name. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 allowed women to apply for credit cards, bank accounts, and mortgages without a male co-signer. Shocking, right?

I remember 1974. Nixon resigned because of the Watergate scandal. The U.S. had recently pulled out of the Vietnam War. The Equal Rights Amendment, passed by Congress in 1972, was still in the process of being ratified. It wasn’t until 2020 that Virginia became the 38th state to ratify it—and as of today, my state still has not. That is shameful.

My parents raised us to believe we could do anything. While applying for my mortgage for this new home, it never crossed my mind that—quite recently, in the scheme of things—I would not have been able to obtain one on my own. Remember, I could do anything. I had to look up the Equal Credit Opportunity Act just to be sure this history was correct. I was appalled to learn how long women were legally treated as financially subordinate to men.

It’s been 52 years. We’ve come a long way, baby… or have we?

Women still earn about 85% of what men earn (Pew Research Center, 2025). Women make up only 28% of the STEM workforce, compared to 72% men (STEM Women). And just 10.4% of Fortune 500 companies are run by women (Fortune, 2024).

Women are making strides, but progress is slow. I worry for younger generations. I don’t want this progress to stall—or worse, regress.

As a retired widow, I feel it is my duty to encourage younger women to follow their passions. I feel it is my duty to remind them that they can do anything. And I feel it is my duty to add my voice to theirs—to help make the world a better place for women and men.

I may be retired from my profession, but I still have work to do.

Will you join me?

Blessings,
Bethanne

Sources:

(Pew Research Center, 2025) Gender Pay Gap in the U.S.
(STEM Women) Women in STEM: Statistics, Progress, and Challenges
(Fortune, 2024) Women CEOs in the Fortune 500