Retirement - women continue losing out

As reported in the Dallas Morning News June 17, women who on average earn only 76% of what men earn continue their economic disadvantage into retirement. The median annual income of older women is half that of older men. Not only do women earn less, caregiving for children or parents may require them to stop working or to take flexible jobs with lower pay and few benefits. Women live longer too, making them "especially vulnerable during retirement."

The article quoted Paul Hodge, chairman of Harvard's Global Generations Policy Institute: "Unless there are dramatic policy shifts, boomer women, particularly minority women, will find retirement a never-ending struggle." The Institute recently released an extensive study, Baby Boomer Women: Secure Futures or Not?

The Dallas article also cited the director of the Older Women's League who believes, "The most important reforms will come in Social Security; 29 percent of unmarried older women depend on it as their only source of income."