The move during the 1970s and 1980s of women into the workplace,coupled with better education leading to better jobs, means thatwomen have increased their financial independence. (Photo:Shutterstock)

Thanks to changes in everything from work records to theworkplace itself, the poverty rate of widows should keep fallinginto the future.

That's according to the Center for Retirement Research at BostonCollege, which points out that while it's common for widows to endup poverty-stricken if they lose a husband's pension on hisdeath—as well as because of a drop in retirement income from SocialSecurity when the late husband's benefit ceases—other changes inwomen's circumstances have meant that for the past 20 years theirpoverty rate has been on the decline.

Related: Widows face many financialchallenges

And as those other changes continue, the poverty rate shouldalso extend its downward trend.

The move during the 1970s and 1980s of women into the workplace,coupled with better education leading to better jobs, means thatwomen have increased their financial independence. And with thosebetter jobs leading to a better chance of having an employerretirement plan, women are also better equipped than they used tobe to prepare financially for retirement.

Of course, their problems aren't over, by any means, but thelong-term prognosis is positive. Among other changes, says thepost, widows between the ages of 65 and 85 log 10 years more ofwork than their mothers' generation did—and that has helped pushdown the poverty rate from 20 percent in 1994 to 13 percent in2014, according to the Center for Retirement Research.

In addition, there are other trends that will influence widows'poverty rate. For instance, women with less education and lowerincomes are marrying at lower rates than they used to, meaning thatmarried women are increasingly well-educated and have higherincomes. And the women from this pool are the ones who willincreasingly form the group of widows in the future—thus drivingdown the poverty rate even further.

The report estimates that widow's poverty rate willdrop to about 8 percent by 2029—compared to today's 13percent. That said, it concludes, “widows' poverty rateis, and will continue to be, significantly higher than it is formarried women.”

Read more: 

• Poverty down for widows, but still a higher riskinto the future
• Women fear running out of money in retirement 5years too soon
• Facing retirement in poverty, some Japanese chooseprison instead