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In America’s retirement crisis, women get the short end of the stick. While women have a lifetime to build up their wealth, there are several factors that impact their ability to achieve economic security into retirement.

Retirement is a gender (性别) issue. Wealth is accumulated by saving and long-term investing, but women are at a disadvantage compared with men. A TIAA report found that if two recent college graduates, a man and a woman, want to have the same amount saved for retirement, it would take about 18% of the woman’s salary to equal 10% of the man’s salary. The reasons are simple. Women are usually paid less and tend to receive fewer salary increases. And women usually retire relatively earlier, so this gives them less time to accumulate wealth. Women have longer life expectancy. As a result, they often face financial instability in retirement.

Investing is another issue. While the investing industry would tell you we’re gender-neutral, 99% of investment dollars are managed at companies owned by white men, 98% of mutual (互助) fund dollars are managed by men, 90% of traders are men, and 86% of financial advisors are men. Maybe the reason women aren’t investing as much is that it is dominated by men.

The pandemic has a greater impact on women. Women who are privileged enough to work from home have lost productivity by double-digit percent, while men have gained productivity, like gains of 50%. The promotions that have occurred during the pandemic had gone something like 3-to-1 to men. A large number of women work in industries that have been deeply affected by the pandemic, including hospitality, retail, restaurants and caregiving, occupations that require in-person work. With these businesses having to either lay off employees or temporarily shut down, and with domestic and caretaker responsibilities, many women have opted to leave the workforce altogether.

How can the retirement risks women face be relieved? That’s what the government should take into consideration.