Women Have Fallen Behind

Rising costs of living impact many Americans, but 54% of older women do not generate enough income to afford their essential expenses – while 45% of older men experience similar situations. This data comes from the University of Massachusetts-Boston.

This disparity became of particular note during the pandemic – coupled with the fact that women live at a 50% higher poverty rate than men. Women are still struggling to regain that ground.

“Older women are more likely to live in poverty than men as a result of wage discrimination and having to take time out of the workforce for caregiving,” notes the National Council on Aging (NCOA).

NCOA finds, overall, more than 15 million older adults aged 65+ are economically insecure, with incomes below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).

Workforce challenges faced by women magnify with age – contributing to financial insecurity for women 55+.

Consider the findings of a new survey from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies:

• 21% of women workers are “very confident” that they will be able to fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle
• 28% of women expect Social Security to be their primary source of retirement income
• Among women who plan to work past age 65 and/or in retirement, more cite doing so for financial reasons (81%) than healthy aging-related reasons (77%)
• 41% of working women expect to retire after age 70 or do not plan to retire
• Many plan to work after they retire (58%) – either full-time (20%) or part-time (38%)
• 45% are keeping their job skills up to date