TY - RPRT T1 - Still shortchanged: An update on women's retirement preparedness Y1 - 2020 A1 - Bond, Tyler A1 - Saad-Lessler, Joelle A1 - Christian Weller KW - Caregiving KW - Divorce KW - Retirement Planning KW - women AB - Most Americans struggle to adequately save for retirement, but women face unique challenges in saving, largely stemming from a gender pay gap that persists into a retirement wealth gap. This update of previous research from the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) takes a fresh look at the data on women’s retirement preparedness. Relying on data from the 2014 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), this research finds that older women receive approximately 80 percent of the retirement income that older men receive - nearly identical to the gender pay gap for American women. The data also reveals that different groups of women have very different retirement experiences, with older women in a first marriage faring better than the rest, and widows, especially those age 80 and older, seeing a marked decline in income. The report’s key findings are as follows: • In 2016, women age 65 and older had a median household retirement income of $47,244 or 83 percent of median household income for men ($57,144). • Women earn less than men over the course of their career. Men with savings in a defined contribution (DC) plan far surpass the earnings trajectory of women with savings in a DC plan, and earn significantly more than women without DC savings. • Women experience a steep decline in income past age 80. Women age 80 and older are much more likely to be widows and widowhood presents challenges on both the income and cost side of retirement. • There are stark differences in the sources of income for women in the top and bottom income quintiles. Women with less than $20,000 of income in retirement are much more dependent on Social Security income, whereas women with income above $80,000 receive much more from earnings and property income. • Divorce presents a complex set of issues relating to retirement preparedness. The timing of divorce seems to matter, as does the division of assets following a divorce. • Caregiving, especially spousal caregiving, has a strong effect on retirement preparedness, and this particularly impacts women as they remain much more likely to provide caregiving than men. JF - National Institute on Retirement Security PB - National Institute on Retirement Security CY - Washington, D.C. UR - https://www.nirsonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Still-Shortchanged-Final.pdf ER -