“When it comes to retirement savings, women lag behind men. According to a new report by the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS), retired women aged 65 and older are 80 percent more likely to be impoverished than their male counterparts. Retired women aged 75 or older are three times more likely than men to be in poverty. Because women are more likely to take time off of work or work part-time, saving for retirement can be more difficult, especially when factoring in compound interest, where it pays to be an early saver.
Women also are less likely than men to participate in a retirement savings plan. According to the Department of Labor, 63 million women in the US are working for wages or a salary between the ages of 21 and 64. Only 44 percent of those participate in a retirement savings plan.” -The Christian Science Monitor