The Retirement Gap: Why Women Retire with Less
The affordability gap in retirement isn’t an accident—it’s the result of structures that consistently disadvantage women:
Lower lifetime earnings: Women still earn 82 cents for every dollar men earn, and the gap widens with age.
Interrupted careers: Caregiving—whether for kids or aging parents—means fewer years contributing to Social Security and retirement accounts.
Reduced Social Security: Women’s payouts are 20% lower than men’s, reflecting those lower earnings and fewer years in the workforce.
💸 64% of unmarried and women ages 50–64 have less than $50,000 saved for retirement. [AARP]
Why This Matters Now
This affordability gap is colliding with another looming crisis: Social Security itself is under strain. According to the program’s trustees, unless Congress acts, the trust fund that pays retirement benefits will be depleted by 2033—less than a decade away. That would mean benefit cuts of about 23% for millions of retirees 【NYT report】.
For women—who already receive smaller monthly checks—the impact would be devastating. A smaller benefit on top of an already lower payout compounds the inequality and leaves even fewer resources to cover the basics of housing, food, and healthcare.
The bottom line: women are at higher risk of outliving their money just as the nation’s primary safety net is at risk of shrinking.
But here’s the hopeful part: some women aren’t waiting for the system to change. They’re creating new ways to face retirement together—pooling resources, building communities, and reimagining what aging can look like when no one is left to go it alone.
👉 Next time (Part 2): I’ll share how one group of women in Texas built a retirement solution of their own—living together in community.
Resource Corner
📌 National Institute on Retirement Security: Women’s Retirement Inequality
📌 The New York Times: Social Security’s Finances Erode Further, Risking Benefit Cut
Curious to hear from you:
Does this gap surprise you—or does it feel all too familiar?
