Question

• How do retirement patterns for men and women differ? What are the major reasons for this difference?
• How might an older adult’s needs for care affect the family relationship?

PLEASE PROVIDE REFERENCE(S).

Answer 1

Ans) Ways in which men and women face differ in their opportunities and approach to retirement:

1. They Lack Confidence in Retiring Confidently

Only 10% of women are “very confident” in their ability to fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle, about half the rate found among men (19%). Nearly half of women (45%) are “not too confident” or “not at all confident,” compared with a third of men who share those sentiments.

2. Most Lack a Plan B If Forced Into Retirement Sooner Than Planned

Fewer than one in five (19%) of women say they have a backup plan if forced into retirement sooner than expected. About a third (31%) of men say they do.

3. They Started Saving Later

Seventy-two percent of women are saving for retirement through employer-sponsored plans (e.g., 401(k) or similar plans) and/or outside the workplace (e.g., in IRAs or mutual funds) – nearly as many as the 80% of men. However, they started later than their male counterparts (median age of 28 versus 26 for men).

4. They Are Less Likely to Be Offered Retirement Benefits

One in four women (26%) work part-time compared to only 14% of men – a gap that impacts access to retirement plans at work. Forty-two percent of women part-timers are offered a 401(k) or similar plan compared to 77% of women full-timers.

5. Most Participate in a 401(k) or Similar Plan, If Offered One – But Don’t Save as Much

Among those offered a 401(k) or similar plan, women’s participation rate lags that of men by just a bit (75% and 79%, respectively). However, at median, women contribute only 6% of pay, compared with 10% of men.

6. More Likely to Guess at Retirement Needs

Women estimate that they will need to have saved $500,000 (median) to feel financially secure when they retire, an estimate shared by men. Among those who estimated their savings needs, more than half (56%) of women say they “guessed” at what the figure should be and only 8% said they had used a calculator or completed a worksheet. Men are far less likely to have guessed (40%) and twice as lnd that adverse psychological effects of caregiving are dispersed throughout the family and not just the active caregivers. Bookwala (2009) found in a sample of adult caregiving daughters and sons that longer-term caregivers were significantly less happy in their marriages than those who recently assumed the caregiving role, suggesting that it takes time for negative impacts to manifest themselves.

The demands of caregiving may also generate familial conflict about care decisions.

- Sources of conflict include differing views about the appropriate boundaries for caregiving, disapproval of family members' actions or attitudes, disagreements about the nature and seriousness of the care recipient's condition, perceived failure to appreciate the demands on the primary caregiver and to provide adequate help or support, disapproval of the quality of care, and disagreements over financial matters pertaining to the care recipient.