Issue brief

OLDER WOMEN WORKERS AND ECONOMIC SECURITY

On average, women earn less than men with each 

paycheck, which causes a significant gender disparity in 

earnings over a lifetime. As a result, women often lack 

the financial resources needed in old age. This fact sheet 

addresses the economic needs of older women, their 

sources of income, and the gender wage gap by race and 

ethnicity. It discusses factors that impact the lower average 

lifetime earnings of women and policy changes that could 

increase the economic security of older women. Lower 

earnings than men for full-time work, lower likelihood than 

men to work full-time, and a greater likelihood than men to 

have had time out of the labor force because of caregiving 

all contribute to women’s lower lifetime earnings.

THE ECONOMIC NEEDS OF 

OLDER WOMEN

In 2006, the Gerontology Institute at the University of 

Massachusetts Boston,1 in collaboration with Wider 

Opportunities for Women (WOW),2 developed the Elder 

Economic Security StandardTM Index (Elder Index), a 

measure of income that older adults require to maintain 

their independence in the community and meet their 

daily costs of living, including housing, health care, food, 

transportation, and miscellaneous expenses.3

 The Elder 

Index uses cost data from public federal sources that are 

comparable, geographically specific, easily accessible, and 

widely accepted.4 It accounts for geographic differences 

in cost of living.5 It shows, as an average, what it costs 

a retired elder to live in any state or county in the United 

States. The average annual cost for a single elder person 

(someone who is 65 years or older) household ranges from 

$19,000 to $29,000 per year, while for couples it ranges 

from about $29,500 to $35,000, all numbers above the 

poverty line.6

 However, the average annual Social Security 

payment for women is only $13,3927 and the annual median 

income in retirement for women amounts to only $14,000.8

OLDER WOMEN WORKERS AND 

ECONOMIC SECURITY

This issue brief answers the following 

questions: How and why does the gender 

wage gap vary by age? How do earnings for 

older women differ by race and ethnicity? 

What is the impact of the gender wage gap and 

caregiving responsibilities on women’s lifetime 

earnings and their retirement savings? What 

can be done to tackle the gender wage gap and 

improve women’s lifetime earnings?
Issue brief

Page 2

LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION 

OF OLDER WOMEN

Working later in life is one way to increase lifetime earnings 

and make up for gaps in work experience in younger years. 

The labor force participation of older women (defined here 

as women 55 years old and older) has grown rapidly in the 

last two decades and is projected to continue to grow. In 

2012, the labor force participation rate for women ages 55 

years old and older was 35.1 percent compared with 46.8 

percent for men, up from 22.8 percent and 38.4 percent, 

respectively, in 1992.9 In 2012, the labor force participation 

rate for women ages 65 and older was 14.4 percent 

compared with 23.6 percent for men, and for women 

ages 75 and older, it was 5.0 percent compared with 11.3 

percent for men.10 As a greater number of older women 

enter and remain in the workforce, their earnings constitute 

a larger part of the American economy and a larger part of 

family incomes.

EARNINGS OF OLDER WOMEN

Both women and men tend to acquire higher earnings 

as they get older. Once reaching age 65, however, their 

earnings tend to fall. Yet the earnings difference between 

workers who are just starting out in employment (under age 

25) and workers who are 55 to 64 years of age is much 

smaller for women than men; while women and men start 

out with similar levels of earnings, the increase in earnings 

between ages 35 and 45 is much more marked for men 

than for women (Figure 1). In middle age (45-64 years), 

men’s and women’s earnings are essentially static. Among 

women and men who work full-time, earnings are lower 

for those ages 65 and older relative to those in prime and 

middle age groups, and the drop in earnings is greater for 

women than men (Figure 1).

In 2013, women ages 55 to 64 years had median weekly 

earnings of $788. While the earnings for women in this age 

group are higher than for women in other age groups, they 

are $212 less per week than the median weekly earnings 

of men ages 55 to 64 years, which is $1,000 per week for 

a gender earnings ratio of 78.8 percent. At the beginning 

of their working lives, the earnings of women and men 

are more similar; yet, even among the youngest workers, 

women earn less than men. Women younger than 25 years 

earn 87.5 percent of young men’s median weekly earnings; 

and women ages 25 to 34 earn 88 percent of men’s median 

weekly earnings. The earnings gap widens for women 

older than 35 years who earn less than 80 percent of men’s 

median weekly earnings in each age group. The gap in 

earnings is largest for women and men ages 65 years and 

older (Figure 1).†

 

Median weekly earnings for full-time workers ages 55 years 

and older vary substantially by race and ethnicity. In 2013, 

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Women

Men

<25 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

87.5% 88.0% 79.9% 76.9% 78.8% 72.2%

Gender Earnings Ratio

Age Group

Figure 1. Median Weekly Earnings for Full-Time Work by Age and 

Gender, 2013 

Source: IWPR Analysis of 2013 Current Population Survey ORG, as 

provided by Center for Economic and Policy Research, CPS ORG 

Uniform Extracts, Version 1.9 (2014).
Issue brief

Page 3

among women, Hispanic women ages 55 years and older 

had the lowest median weekly earnings at $600 per week; 

White women had the highest median weekly earnings at 

$808 per week (Figure 2). Women in each of the largest 

race and ethnic groups (see Figure 2 below) earned less 

than men of the same race and ethnicity. White men had 

the highest median weekly earnings ($1,100). The gender 

earnings ratio for White women and White men is 74 

percent; for Black women and White men, 64 percent; and 

for Hispanic women and White men 55 percent.11 The 

gender earnings ratio is narrower when Black and Hispanic 

women’s earnings are compared with men of the same 

race/ethnicity (95 percent and 89 percent, respectively, with 

calculations based on Figure 2).

Women

Men

White

Asian

Other

Black

Hispanic

Total

$1,100

$808

$958

$720

$720

$700

$600

$769

$861

$738

$673

$1,000

Figure 2. Median Weekly Earnings for Full-Time Workers Ages 55 

and Older, by Largest Racial and Ethnic Groups and Gender, 2013

Notes: Racial/ethnic groups are defined as exclusive: White alone, 

non-Hispanic; Black alone, non-Hispanic; Asian alone, non-Hispanic 

(includes Pacific Islanders); Hispanic may be of any race; “Other” 

includes persons of two or more races, American Indians, and anyone 

else not elsewhere classified. 

Source: IWPR Analysis of 2013 Current Population Survey ORG, as 

provided by Center for Economic and Policy Research, CPS ORG 

Uniform Extracts, Version 1.9 (2014). 

† BLS estimates are based on median weekly earnings of full-time wage 

and salary workers. Another common approach to measure gender 

differences in earnings is used by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The 

Census Bureau figures are based on median annual earnings of workers 

who worked full-time and year round, including the self-employed.

THE IMPACT OF FAMILY CARE AND 

PART-TIME WORK ON WOMEN’S 

LIFETIME EARNINGS 

While the majority of women and men ages 55 years and 

older work full-time, part-time work by older workers is 

more common than part-time work among the total working 

population, and women are more likely than men to work 

part-time. In 2013, among all workers ages 55 years and 

older, including both full-time and part-time workers, the 

earnings ratio of women’s to men’s median earnings was 

69.8 percent.12 In 2013, 66 percent of women and 78 

percent of men ages 55 years and older worked at least 

35 hours per week, compared to 75 percent of women 

and 87.5 percent of men ages 25 to 54 years.13 Rates of 

full-time work vary by race and ethnicity. Among women 

ages 55 years and older, Black and Asian women are most 

likely to work full-time (73 and 72 percent respectively), 

followed by Hispanic women (69 percent), Other women 

(66 percent) and White women (64 percent).14 

Over a lifetime, the gap in earnings grows substantially 

larger than at any one point in time. Women born in the 

late 1940s over their lifetime are estimated to have earned 

roughly 40 percent of men’s lifetime earnings; for women 

born during the 1960s the gap is smaller, but still average 

earnings for women are estimated at less than 60 percent 

of men’s.15 One of the major reasons women tend to have 

lower earnings over their lifetime is that women are more 

likely than men to serve as caregivers. Two out of three 

caregivers of sick, elderly, or disabled family members 

are women.16 Approximately 9.7 million adults over 50 

years of age care for their parents.17 Older Black and 

Hispanic workers are more likely than White workers to 

report having to care for a spouse, a parent, or other older 

person.18 These caregiving duties have a direct impact 

on the economic stability and security of women. Twentyone percent of women ages 45 to 74 report having taken 

time off work in response to care responsibilities in the 

preceding 5 years.19 Providing care to older adults has a 

substantial impact on participation in paid work; according 

to one study, more than one-third of caregivers providing 

care to older adults leave the workforce or reduce their 

work hours and, as caregivers, women are more likely 

to leave their jobs altogether than reduce the hours they 

work.20 Among workers, women of all ages are much more 
Issue brief

Page 4

likely than men to work part-time in order to meet family or 

personal obligations.21 In total, the impact of caregiving on 

the individual female caregiver in terms of lost wages and 

Social Security benefits over her lifetime equals $274,044 

($142,693 in lost wages and $131,351 in lost Social 

Security benefits), as well as an estimated $50,000 in lost 

pension income.22

$0

$2000

$4000

$6000

$8000

$10000

$12000

$14000

$16000

Women

Men

White

Black

HIspanic

Social Security Asset Income Pensions Earnings White Black HIspanic White Black HIspanic White Black

HIspanic

Figure 3. Access to Retirement Income for Women and Men Ages 65 Years and Older, for Largest Race and Ethnic Groups, 2011 

Note: Average annual income for each source includes zero values. The population groups “Asian Americans and Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders” and 

“Other” are excluded from the analysis because of small sample sizes. The circle indicates the amount of retirement income for men, the top of the 

rectangle retirement income for women. 

Source: Fischer and Hayes 2013 based on 2012 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic (ASEC) Survey.

30 Earnings and 

income data are for the 2011calendar year. 

GENDER, RACE, AND ETHNIC GAPS 

IN RETIREMENT INCOME

Over their lifetimes, women receive lower wages than men. 

This results in women accumulating less retirement savings 

than men, as well as acquiring fewer income-producing 

assets for use in retirement. Consequently, women receive 

less Social Security income than men. In retirement, 

women have lower incomes from all income sources, 

including pensions, than men, as demonstrated in Figure 

3.23 Many workers who have not yet reached retirement 

age anticipate that they will have to work during retirement 

out of financial necessity, with women (41 percent) more 

likely to say so than men (29 percent).24 Because women 

generally outlive men, they often need to have greater 

retirement savings in order to achieve economic security. 

For a woman born in 2010, her projected life expectancy 

was 81.0 years and for that same year, the projected life 

expectancy for a man was 76.2 years.25 In the same year, 

a woman who was age 65 could expect to live another 20.3 

years while a man who was age 65 could expect to live just 

another 17.7 years.26 

While the majority of women and men ages 65 years and 

older (85 and 84 percent, respectively, in 2011) receive 

Social Security benefits, women receive lower benefits than 

men.27 In 2012, the average annual Social Security income 

received by women 65 years and older was $12,520, 

compared to $16,398 for men. In 2012, for unmarried 

women—including widows—ages 65 years and older, 

Social Security comprised 50.4 percent of their total income. 

By contrast, Social Security benefits comprised only 35.9 

percent of unmarried elderly men’s income and only 30.2 

percent of elderly couples’ income. Women are less likely 

than men to have income from assets (48 and 56 percent 

respectively), and they are less likely than men to have 

income from pensions (29 and 46 percent respectively).28 In 

2012, only 22.0 percent of unmarried women ages 65 years 
Page 5

or older were receiving their own private pensions (either 

as a retired worker or survivor), compared to 27.7 percent 

of unmarried men. In addition, women generally receive 

lower pension benefits due to their relatively lower earnings 

acquired during their work lives.29 

In retirement, women of color are particularly vulnerable 

to economic insecurity. Figure 3 shows the results of 

earnings discrepancies: Black and Hispanic women have 

lower income from Social Security, assets, and pensions 

than do White women, and they rely on Social Security 

for a larger portion of their income.31 In addition to having 

lower Social Security payments based on lifetime wages 

that tend to be lower than those of White women and 

men, Black and Hispanic women are less likely to marry 

than other women.32 Black women are also more likely to 

divorce, reducing the likelihood of having been married for

10 years or longer and thus qualifying for spousal Social 

Security benefits.33

SUPPORTIVE STRATEGIES 

Increasing women workers’ awareness of their legal 

employment rights, reducing the difficulty and confusion 

regarding the processes for filing discrimination complaints,

and increasing funding for agencies charged with enforcing 

anti-discrimination laws would help mitigate gender-, 

race-, and age-based gaps in women’s pay. Some have 

advocated caregiver credits under Social Security for time 

out of the labor force while raising children or caring for 

adult family members as a way of increasing retirement 

income for women, and legislation to bring this about has 

been introduced in Congress. Education is an investment 

that pays lifelong dividends in terms of achieving economic 

security. In 2013, 57 percent of women aged 65 and 

older and 41 percent of women ages 55 to 64 had no 

post-secondary educational qualifications beyond high 

school.34 The Institute for Women’s Policy Research 

(IWPR) estimates that a woman ages 65 and older with 

a Bachelor’s degree will earn twice as much as a woman 

with a high school diploma or less; the benefits come from 

having both higher hourly rates, and greater likelihood to 

do paid work.35 Those with college degrees and advanced 

degrees earn substantially more at ages 65 and beyond, 

compared with those with less education.36 Increased 

education would be helpful in increasing economic security 

in old age.

Paid family and medical leave and paid sick days also 

would help working women reconcile their paid and family 

care work, and also take care of their own health care 

needs. Currently, only 60 percent of all workers are entitled 

to unpaid leave pursuant to the Family and Medical Leave 

Act,37 only 62 percent of women have access to paid sick 

leave,38 and only 12 percent of workers have access to 

employer-provided paid family leave.39 

Increasing the minimum wage and providing paid leave and 

paid sick days would enable women to remain in their jobs 

while caring for themselves or a family member. This would 

allow them the opportunity to acquire seniority in their job, 

which results in increased earnings. 

Encouraging employers to provide more flexible working 

hours and to make adjustments to working conditions 

that would accommodate the needs and preferences of 

some older workers would also help older women remain 

employed, thus increasing their economic security. Such 

adjustments could include a temporary reduction in working 

hours, gradual retirement policies, as well as flextime and 

remote work or telework options. 
Endnotes

Page 6

ENDNOTES

1

education on aging policy issues, with an emphasis on four areas: income security, health (including long-term care), 

productive aging (including transportation), and basic social and demographic research on aging.

2

 WOW, a nongovernmental organization, works nationally and in its home community of the Washington, D.C. 

metropolitan area to build pathways to economic security and equality of opportunity for women, families and elders. It 

produces a wide range of policy and economic security-related research.

3

 Gerontology Institute, University of Massachusetts Boston, “The National Elder Economic Security Standard Index,” 

Gerontology Institute Publications, Paper 75 (2012), http://scholarworks.umb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1074&co

ntext=gerontologyinstitute_pubs.

4

 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census; U.S. 

Department of Labor; U.S. Department of Agriculture; and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

5

 The federal poverty guidelines, by contrast, do not differentiate by region. See U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau 

of the Census, “Poverty Thresholds” (2014), https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/data/threshld/ (accessed July 

22, 2014).

6

 Ibid.

7

 Social Security Administration, Office of Retirement and Disability Policy, Income of the Population 55 or Older, 2012 

(SSA Publication No. 13-11871) (2014). 

8

 Wider Opportunities for Women, “Doing Without: Economic Insecurity and Older Americans. No.2: Gender” (2012), 

http://www.wowonline.org/documents/OlderAmericansGenderbriefFINAL.pdf.

9

 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Employment Projections. Table 3.3 Civilian labor force 

participation rates by age, sex, race, and ethnicity, 1992, 2002, 2012, and projected 2022,” http://www.bls.gov/emp/

ep_table_303.htm (accessed June 3, 2014).

10 Ibid.

11 IWPR calculation based on CPS ORG; source as for Figure 2.

12 IWPR calculation based on CPS ORG; source as for Figure 2.

13 IWPR calculation based on U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Table 22. Persons at work in 

nonagricultural industries by age, sex, race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, marital status, and usual full- or part-time 

status,” Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey (2014), http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat22.htm 

(accessed May 7, 2014).

14 IWPR analysis based on CPS ORG; source as for Figure 2.

15 Melissa Favreault, personal correspondence, based on Urban Institute analyses for the Social Security Administration 

under contract number SS00–06–60113, order number SS00–11–31009. Results vary depending on the precise 

measure used to estimate earnings.

16 Heather Boushey, Ann O’Leary and Sarah Jane Glynn, Center for American Progress, “Our Working Nation in 2013: 

An Updated Agenda for Work and Family Policies” (2013), p. 51, http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/labor/

report/2013/02/05/51720/our-working-nation-in-2013/ (accessed March 24, 2014).

17 MetLife Mature Market Institute, MetLife Study of Caregiving Costs to Working Caregivers (June 2011).

18 Sid Groeneman and Elizabeth Pope, AARP, “Staying Ahead of the Curve 2007: The AARP Work and Career Study” 

(2008), http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/econ/work_career_08.pdf (accessed November 30, 2012). Note: Data are not 

reported separately by race/ethnicity and gender; the survey was conducted of workers ages 45 to 74.

19 AARP, “Staying Ahead of the Curve 2013: The AARP Work and Career Study” (2014), p. 38, http://www.aarp.org/

content/dam/aarp/research/surveys_statistics/general/2014/Staying-Ahead-of-the-Curve-2013-The-Work-and-CareerStudy-AARP-res-gen.pdf (accessed May 5, 2014).

20 MetLife Study of Caregiving Costs to Working Caregivers, op. cit.

The Gerontology Institute carries out basic and applied social and economic research on aging and engages in public 
Endnotes

Page 7

21 IWPR calculation based on U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Table 23. States: persons at work 1 

to 34 hours, by sex, race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, usual full- or part-time status, and reason for working less than 

35 hours, 2012 annual averages,” Geographic Profile of Employment and Unemployment in the States (2013), http://

www.bls.gov/opub/gp/gpsec2.htm (accessed May 7, 2014).

22 MetLife Study of Caregiving Costs to Working Caregivers, op. cit.

23 Jocelyn Fischer and Jeff Hayes, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, “The Importance of Social Security in the 

Incomes of Older Americans: Differences by Gender, Age, Race/Ethnicity, and Marital Status” (2013).

24 Cynthia Hess, Jeff Hayes and Heidi Hartmann, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, “Retirement on the Edge: 

Women, Men, and Economic Insecurity After the Great Recession” (2011), http://www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/

retirement-on-the-edge-women-men-and-economic-insecurity-after-the-great-recession/at_download/file (accessed 

December 6, 2012).

25 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Table 18, Health, United 

States, 2013 (DHHS Publication No. 2014-1232) (2013), p. 82, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus13.pdf#018 

(accessed June 4, 2014).

26 Ibid, p. 82.

27 Jocelyn Fischer and Jeff Hayes, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, “The Importance of Social Security in the 

Incomes of Older Americans: Differences by Gender, Age, Race/Ethnicity, and Marital Status” (2013).

28 Ibid.

29 U.S. Social Security Administration, “Social Security Is Important to Women,” www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/factsheets/

women-alt.pdf (accessed June 4, 2014).

30 Fischer and Hayes, op. cit.

31 Ibid.

32 Rose M. Kreider and Renee Ellis, U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, “Number, Timing, and 

Duration of Marriages and Divorces: 2009,” Current Population Reports (2011).

33 Ibid, p. 14.

34 IWPR calculation based on U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, “Table 1. Educational Attainment 

of the Population 18 Years and Over, by Age, Sex, Race and Hispanic Origin: 2013,” Current Population Survey, 2013 

Annual Social and Economic Supplement (2013), https://www.census.gov/hhes/socdemo/education/data/cps/2013/

tables.html (accessed June 13, 2014).

35 Heidi Hartmann and Jeff Hayes, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, “How Education Pays Off for Older Americans” 

(2013). The benefits for men are even more substantial, as men having a Bachelor’s degree are estimated to earn 2.8 

times as much as men with a high school diploma or less.

36 Hartmann and Hayes, op. cit.

37 Jacob Klerman, Kelly Daley and Alyssa Pozniak, Abt Associates, Family and Medical Leave in 2012: Technical Report

(2012), http://www.dol.gov/asp/evaluation/fmla/FMLA-2012-Technical-Report.pdf (accessed September 27, 2013).

38 Claudia Williams and Barbara Gault, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, “Paid Sick Days Access in the United 

States: Differences by Race/Ethnicity, Occupation, Earnings, and Work Schedule” (2014). 

39 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Leave benefits: Access, civilian workers: National Compensation 

Survey, March 2013 (2013), http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/benefits/2013/ownership/civilian/table21a.pdf (accessed April 

26, 2014).

February 2015
Contact us

Page 8

Women’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, February 2015.

CONTACT US

Website: www.dol.gov/wb/

E-mail: WomensBureau@dol.gov

Mail:

WOMEN’S BUREAU

U.S. Department of Labor

200 Constitution Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20210

Phone: 1-800-827-5335 or (202) 693-6710