EBRI Report Shows Women over 50 Much Less Likely To Receive Annuity and/or Pension

According to a report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), gender is a “particularly strong factor” in determining the likelihood of
whether a worker age 50 and older receives an annuity and/or employment-based pension income in retirement. Specifically, in 2006, women over age 50 were much less likely than men to receive annuity and/or pension income and if they did the amount was likely to be much smaller.

The study--"Retirement Annuity and Employment-Based Pension Income, Among Individuals Age 50 and Over: 2006; and Finances of Employee Benefits, 1950-2006"--evaluates the impact of gender, age, education, marital status, and other demographic factors in the likelihood of a worker receiving annuity and/or pension income in retirement. With respect to gender:

. . .the study reports that in 2006, some 44.6 percent of men age 65 and older received annuity and/or pension income, with a mean (average) amount of $17,200 per year. By contrast, only 28.4 percent of women age 65 and older received annuity and/or pension income in 2006, with mean pension income of $11,142 annually.

However, going forward, younger women are more likely to receive annuity and/or pension income and the amounts are likely to be greater, since younger women now spend more time in the work force.

With respect to factors other than gender, the study found:

• The likelihood of receiving annuity and/or pension income increases with age, until the oldest age group (80 and older).
• More men age 50 and older with a graduate-level education received annuity and/or pension income than men without a high school diploma.
• Men age 50 and older who were married or widowed were more likely to receive annuity and/or pension income than men of the same age who were never married. However, women age 50 and older who were never married were more likely to receive annuity and/or pension income than married women, but widowed women were much more likely to receive annuity/pension income than either married women or women who were never married.

Source: EBRI Press Release (January 17, 2008)