Women in Retirement: A Deep Dive into Economic Challenges and Solutions
When juxtaposed with men, women’s retirement resources highlight disparities in lifetime earnings, career interruptions, and systemic biases. Understanding these issues makes it imperative to formulate public policies to amplify women’s economic status post-retirement.
Disparity in Earnings
Throughout their working years, women, on average, earn less than their male counterparts. Such discrepancies are primarily attributed to familial caregiving roles, which women predominantly shoulder. These responsibilities often result in women pausing their careers or opting for flexible yet lower-paying jobs. Such interruptions during pivotal career-forming years lead to persistent earning losses. For instance, a woman with one child earns 28% less than childless women. This wage gap amplifies with each subsequent child. Women, especially after age 50, often care for elderly parents, incurring an average wage loss of $142,000.
However, even when evaluating similar roles, women consistently earn less. In 2018, women’s median earnings stood at 81.1% of men’s. When adjusted for various factors, this rises to 94.6%, yet it masks the systemic biases hindering women’s career advancements and pushing them into lesser-paying roles.
Additionally, the existing progressive income tax structure disincentivizes married women from participating in the paid workforce.
The Journey from Earnings to Retirement Wealth
Lower lifetime earnings directly impact women’s retirement wealth. A pivotal link in this chain is Social Security. With its benefits based on the highest earnings, 35 years, women, especially those with career breaks, often receive significantly lower benefits. Women’s average Social Security benefits are only 80% of what men receive. This motherhood penalty persists in retirement, with each child reducing women’s Social Security benefits.
Traditional employer-sponsored retirement plans further exacerbate this issue. Defined benefit (DB) plans, primarily favoring long, uninterrupted careers, tend to benefit men more. In contrast, defined contribution (DC) plans, being more flexible and not strictly tied to job tenure, appear more favorable for women. However, despite equal access to DC plans, women’s average balance is still only two-thirds of men’s, a disparity mainly attributed to wage differences.
Managing DC accounts introduces new challenges. Women’s higher risk aversion, lesser financial literacy, and longer life expectancy may adversely impact their retirement savings.
Retirement Wealth to Retirement Security
Women, having a longer average life expectancy, face the challenge of sustaining their retirement wealth over a prolonged period. Consequently, women are at a higher risk of depleting their retirement savings. This reality has seen an increasing trend of women above 55 remaining employed. However, women’s poverty rates rise with age, significantly influenced by marital status and familial responsibilities.
Policy Solutions for Bridging the Gap
Addressing gender inequalities, particularly in retirement, necessitates multifaceted labor and retirement policy reforms.
Promoting Women-Friendly Work Environments: Implementing paid family and medical leave, adopting a Social Security caregiver credit system, subsidizing quality childcare, and restructuring the tax code may make workplaces more accommodating for women.
Revamping the Retirement Saving System: National automatic IRA programs and an expanded saver’s tax credit may encourage more women to save for retirement.
Strengthening Social Support: Boosting benefits like the Supplemental Security Income and offering increased support from Medicare and Medicaid may lift up numerous older women from the clutches of poverty.
While the economic chasm between genders remains evident, with concerted policy efforts, it is possible to bridge these gaps and champion gender equity in retirement.
Don’t leave your retirement to chance. Contact an expert advisor today to personalize solutions that protect and maximize your future financial well-being.
- Earnings Disparity: Women’s average earnings are consistently less than men’s due to caregiving roles leading to career interruptions and systemic biases.
- Retirement Wealth: Lower lifetime earnings reduce women’s retirement wealth, especially in terms of Social Security benefits.
- Retirement Plans: Traditional DB plans benefit men with longer careers, whereas DC plans are slightly more favorable to women. However, managing DC accounts presents unique challenges for women, including financial literacy and risk aversion.
- Retirement Security: With a longer life expectancy, women must stretch their retirement savings over a more extended period, making them prone to financial insecurities.
- Policy Solutions: Adopting women-friendly work policies, revamping the retirement saving system, and bolstering social support may address these disparities.
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