Women and retirement: The retirement experience of "baby boom" women

Less than 20% of baby boom women can feel secure about their future retirement. Baby boom women who are married, possess a college degree, receive high earnings, and own a home can expect to experience a comfortable retirement. Yet, even these women may face economic jeopardy since risk factors such as divorce or loss of a job could reduce their future prospects. Marriage, education, occupation and home ownership--these are the variables that best predict the future for baby boom women. Possession of all four variables indicate high retirement security; absence of any one of these variables increases risk of poverty in old age. This study conducted an in-depth examination of three key structural variables impacting the future retirement of baby boom women: population aging, baby boom women's labor force participation, and retirement income sources. The study's findings reveal: (1) that baby boom women's retirement will not look like men's retirement patterns; (2) that traditional sources of retirement income--social security, employer pensions and personal savings--for most baby boom women will be insufficient, and (3) baby boom women will enter retirement as society's caregivers of the country's elderly.