Two-fifths (41 per cent) of U.S. women say they expect to retire at age 70 or older or don’t plan to retire at all, according to a survey by the Harris Poll on behalf of the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.

Among women who plan to work past age 65 or who don’t plan to retire, 81 per cent cited financial reasons. Nearly half (45 per cent) said they expect to rely on self-funded savings or investments in retirement, while 28 per cent expect to rely on social security as their primary source of income and 16 per cent expect to rely on income from working. More than half (57 per cent) said they don’t have enough income to save for retirement.

Nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) of respondents said they’re saving for retirement through a combination of employer-sponsored plans and personal retirement savings. Among women who said they’re saving for retirement, the median age they started saving was 29.

More than two-thirds (69 per cent) of women reported being offered a 401(k) or similar plan by their employers, a percentage that increases to 75 per cent among full-time employees and decreases to 47 per cent among part-time workers.

“Women are at even greater risk than men of not achieving a financially secure retirement due to societal headwinds, including the persistency of the gender pay gap, time out of the workforce for parenting and caregiving and less access to employer and government benefits,” said Catherine Collinson, chief executive officer and president of the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, in a press release.

“Emerging from the pandemic, we must spotlight women’s longevity and their retirement insecurities. Now is the time to implement solutions so that all women can retire with dignity.”

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