The Top Facts Highlighting Women’s Retirement in 2024

A new Transamerica study spotlights the leading 24 statistics regarding women’s retirement outlooks

While reports show gaps in retirement planning and savings among consumers today, women are particularly struggling to save for retirement.

Among a host of responsibilities and systemic issues, including caregiving needs and gender pay gaps, women are facing an increasing retirement crisis. A past study from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS) found that just 19% of women workers say they are “very” confident they will be able to fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle.

“Women have made great strides in educational attainment and access to career opportunities in recent decades. Yet, despite this progress, women are still at greater risk than men of not achieving a financially secure retirement,” said Catherine Collinson, CEO and president of Transamerica Institute and TCRS. “Factors including the gender pay gap and time out of the workforce for parenting and caregiving can hinder a woman’s lifetime earnings, retirement savings, and government and employer benefits. What’s more, women tend to live longer than men, so they have an even greater need to save for older age.”

As part of the firm’s latest 24^th Annual Retirement Study, Transamerica released 24 facts and findings on the personal finances and preparedness for women workers ages 18 and over.

“Our research explores the attitudes and challenges faced by women, reveals pain points, identifies actionable opportunities, and serves as a societal call to action for improving their retirement security,” said Collinson.

Transamerica notes how the incoming presidential administration could curtail these challenges by addressing a number of gaps. For example, 60% of respondents in the study listed addressing Social Security’s funding shortfalls as a top priority for the President and Congress.

Other priorities include making out-of-pocket health care expenses and prescription drugs more affordable (50%), addressing Medicare’s funding shortfalls (48%), ensuring all workers can save for retirement in the workplace (46%), increasing access to affordable housing (41%), implementing financial literacy curriculum in schools (39%), supporting family caregivers (38%), innovating more affordable solutions for long-term care (38%), providing and/or subsidizing additional broadband access (28%), and creating incentives for continuing education (28%).

“Everyone must do their part and play a role in improving women’s retirement security,” said Collinson. “Policymakers can pave the way by addressing structural barriers and implementing reforms, employers can enhance their business practices and benefit offerings to be more inclusive of women’s needs, women can take charge by further engaging in financial planning, and men can lean in and do more as advocates and allies.”

Read on in the next pages for the top facts on women’s retirement outlooks.

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