A new study shows women in general are looking at a far lower living standard in retirement than are men.[@@]
The median salary for women working full-time in 2003 was $30,734, vs. $40,668 for men. That works out to a typical woman earning roughly $523,000 less than the typical man over a lifetime, according to the study by Americans for Secure Retirement, Washington.
Coupled with the fact women spend less time working than men, they have a smaller amount of accumulated Social Security and retirement plan benefits, the ASR report points out.
The median income of women aged 65 to 74 was $12,143, compared to $23,161 for men. In 2002, women aged 65 and older had a median asset income of only $1,028 a year, or around $86 per month.
The percentage of women aged 75 to 84 living in poverty in 2003 was 13.5%, compared with 7.4% for men, the study notes.
