Retirement Security: Older Women Remain at Risk

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a new report, “RETIREMENT SECURITY: Older Women Remain at Risk,” that highlights the negative financial realities of many women reaching retirement age.

As highlighted in the report, the GAO found that within the last decade, women 65 and over had consistently less retirement income on average and had higher rates of poverty when compared to men. The report concluded that one reason for this is that women in this age bracket have over the last decade had a median income of approximately 25% less than that of men.

The report also found that women were less likely than men to be eligible for employer-sponsored retirement plans, as well as less likely to participate in these plans when eligible, due to lower wages, part-time work schedules, and parental responsibilities. Women that did participate in employer-sponsored retirement plans tended to contribute to their plans at lower levels than men. Finally, divorce and widowhood also had more pronounced negative retirement effects on women than men.

Read the complete report http://www.gao.gov/assets/600/592969.pdf