--- title: The Gender Wage Gap Can Add up to $1.6 Million in Lost Retirement Savings for Women description: Women lose more than $1.6 million in potential retirement savings due to the gender wage gap, according to a new report. authors: - name: Javier Simon url: https://money.com/author/javier-simon/ bio: Javier is a personal finance reporter covering retirement, investing, crypto and more. His work has appeared on leading financial websites including NerdWallet, Bankrate and SmartAsset. He’s also written for newspapers, magazines and video. at_money_since: 2021 articles: 39 covers: - Career Advice - Banking - Business - Credit - Economy and Politics - Housing - Investing - Loans - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology former_staff: true editors: - name: Elizabeth O'Brien role: Deputy Editor url: https://money.com/author/elizabeth-obrien/ bio: Elizabeth O’Brien is Money's deputy editor. She has covered personal finance for more than 10 years, with a focus on retirement planning and health care. Subscribe to her weekly newsletter, Retire with Money. at_money_since: 2016 articles: 194 covers: - Career Advice - Business - Credit - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Personal Finance - Pets - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/elizobrien former_staff: true published: '2022-04-05T13:16:41.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T17:23:48.000Z' section: Career Advice tags: - News word_count: 479 canonical: https://money.com/gender-wage-gap-women-retirement-savings/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Illustration of a senior man in a big boat next too a senior woman in a small kayak](https://img.money.com/2022/04/Retirement-Gender-Pay-Gap.jpg?crop=0px%2C130px%2C1728px%2C972px&quality=85) The gender wage gap costs women $1.6 million in potential retirement savings over the course of their careers, according to [a recent report by the Center for American Progress (CAP)](https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-economic-educational-and-health-related-costs-of-being-a-woman/), a progressive think tank. Throughout the course of a 40-year career, a full-time working woman misses out on $417,400 of potential earnings due to the fact that women are paid less than men. According to the latest government data, a woman working full-time earns about 83 cents for every dollar that men earn. If 100% of those lost earnings had been invested throughout the course of a woman's career, she could earn more than $1 million in retirement savings, assuming an annual return of 6%. That would result in a retirement income of $65,000 a year, not including other savings earmarked for retirement, according to CAP. But even narrowing the gap by a fraction would make a difference. CAP found that investing just 20% of lost wages could generate $323,000. And investing 50% of those losses could earn more than $807,000. The gender wage gap contributes to lower Social Security benefits, putting a further dent in women's retirement security. Social Security benefits are based on a person's earnings in their 35 highest-earning years, leading the average woman to receive less than her male counterpart. According to [the latest data from the Social Security Administration](https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/factsheets/women-alt.pdf), the average annual benefits in 2019 for men and women ages 65 and older were $17,374 and $13,505, respectively. That’s a 22% gap. Moreover, women tend to live longer than men. That can mean women have a longer time to go through a smaller nest egg. And health care costs, a major aspect of [retirement income planning](https://money.com/retirement-income-projections-trick/), may be higher for women. According to the latest data from [Fidelity Investments](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210507005403/en/Fidelity%E2%80%99s-20th-Annual-Retiree-Health-Care-Cost-Estimate-Hits-New-High-A-Couple-Retiring-Today-Will-Need-300000-to-Cover-Medical-Expenses-an-88-Increase-Since-2002#:~:text=According%20to%20Fidelity%2C%20a%2065,women%20and%20%24143%2C000%20for%20men), a single 65-year-old female is projected to spend $157,000 in lifetime [health care costs](https://money.com/health-care-costs-retirement-fidelity-2021-study/), while her male counterpart is projected to pay $143,000. Women of color face an even starker pay gap with white male workers. CAP’s report indicates that Black women miss out on $976,800 in potential earnings because of the gender wage gap. For Hispanic women, that figure is $1,156,440. The CAP report notes that had 100% of the lost earnings due to the wage gap been invested throughout a 40-year career, Black and Hispanic women would accumulate around $3.8 million and $4.5 million, respectively. Systemic inequities require solutions on a societal level. On an individual level, workers can do their best with what they have. Tax advantaged accounts like [IRAs](https://money.com/what-is-an-ira/) and workplace benefits like [401(k)s](https://money.com/401k-and-401k-rollover/) can help you invest in your retirement while enjoying some tax breaks. And if you're asking for a raise, [this script](https://money.com/ask-for-a-raise-scipt-2022/?xid=moneyrss&ref=/22-ways-to-have-the-best-money-year-of-your-life/) can help. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/gender-wage-gap-women-retirement-savings/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Career Advice", "item": "https://money.com/career-advice/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Salaries and Wages", "item": "https://money.com/salaries-and-wages/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The Gender Wage Gap Can Add up to $1.6 Million in Lost Retirement Savings for Women" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/gender-wage-gap-women-retirement-savings/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/gender-wage-gap-women-retirement-savings/", "name": "The Gender Wage Gap Can Add up to $1.6 Million in Lost Retirement Savings for Women", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2022-04-05T13:16:41.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/gender-wage-gap-women-retirement-savings/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/gender-wage-gap-women-retirement-savings/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T17:23:48.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "The Gender Wage Gap Can Add up to $1.6 Million in Lost Retirement Savings for Women", "articleSection": "Career Advice", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2022/04/Retirement-Gender-Pay-Gap.jpg?crop=0px%2C130px%2C1728px%2C972px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "Retirement-Gender-Pay-Gap" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Javier Simon", "url": "https://money.com/author/javier-simon/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/javier-simon/#author", "description": "Javier is a personal finance reporter covering retirement, investing, crypto and more. 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