As the markets finished with gains across the board today, came news that should be very disheartening to women. According to The National Institute on Retirement Security, a nonprofit research center, women are 80 percent more likely than men to be face poverty at age 65 and older. Women age 75 to 79 are three times more likely.
Women are more likely to report that Social Security is the biggest source of income — 50 percent to 38 percent for men, according to a recent poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Women are 14 percentage points less likely to say they will receive a pension. During their working years, women tend to earn less than men, and when they retire, they’re more likely to live in poverty. These are women who raised children and cared for sick and elderly family members, often taking what savings and income they do have and spending it on things besides their own retirement security.
Why do so many women who are 65 and older worry about retirement? See below.
ABC News reports that in 2016, the census poverty threshold for a single person is $11,880. According to UCLA’s Elder Index, a measure of the cost for housing, food, transport and health care, for a 65-year-old renter, the base cost pay for these needs is $24,024 and growing.
Here are the final numbers from Monday, July 11th on Wall Street:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 18,226.93 (+80.19 / +0.44%)
NASDAQ: 4,988.64 (+31.88 / +0.64%)
S&P 500: 2,137.16 (+7.26/ +0.34%)
