New report shows women 80% more likely than men to be impoverished in retirement

March 1, 2016

Washington, D.C.— A new report released by the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) finds that women are far more likely than men to face financial hardship in retirement. The analysis finds that across all age groups, women have substantially less income in retirement than men.
 
These findings are from the report, “Shortchanged in Retirement, The Continuing Challenges to Women’s Financial Future.” The report is available here.
 
Some key findings from the report:

• Women are 80% more likely than men to be impoverished at age 65 and older, while women between the ages of 75 to 79 are three times more likely than men to be living in poverty. Widowed women are twice as likely to be living in poverty than their male counterparts. White and black women are almost twice as likely to be living in poverty than their male counterparts during retirement.
• Labor force participation among women aged 55 to 64 climbed from 53% in 2000, to 59% in 2015, with a peak of 61% in 2010. Women may be working longer in order to make up for lower retirement savings over their careers and to offset investment losses from the Great Recession.
• Social Security is an important source of income for older households with incomes less than $80,000. Women who are widowed, divorced, and over age 70 rely on Social Security benefits for a majority of their income. Black women rely largely on Social Security, while women of other ethnic groups also rely on wages to a large extent.
• Women in the health care, education, and public administration fields, where DB pension plans are more prevalent, have higher incomes in retirement and lower rates of poverty than in other industries, due to their increased participation in DB pension plans.