Women and Retirement

Women over the age of 65 have an average income of $10,899 per year. (1.) That is nearly one-third the cost of a nursing home annually. Retirement is another challenging issue for women, the statistics below will explain:

Over two-thirds of working women earn less than $30,000 per year. (2.)
The average retirement income for women in 2004 was $12,080 compared to men's income of $21,102. (2.)
Half of all women work in low paying jobs without retirement plans or 401K's. (2.)
A women's earnings average $.73 for every $1.00 earned by men, averaging a lifetime loss of over $30,000. (1).

Women are 71 percent more likely than men to live below the poverty line in retirement. When you compare unmarried women to married couples, the statistics are more shocking - single women are four times more likely than couples to live in poverty. Read this article - Why Women Face a Retirement Crisis.

Social Security helps women especially. They represent 57 percent of all aged Social Security beneficiaries aged 62 and older and about 69 percent of beneficiaries 85 and older. The average Social Security benefits in 2007 were $10,685 for women and $14,055 for men. (3)

Sources:
1. http://www.heinzfamily.org/pdfs/women_wages_and.pdf
2. http://www.wiserwomen.org/pdf_files/ebook/chapterone.pdf
3. http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pressoffice/factsheets/women.htm