Despite being primary decision-makers in household finances, women face hidden retirement risks due to career breaks and caregiving responsibilities. Experts urge reforms to include retirement planning as part of caregiving support, highlighting an urgent need for tailored advice and policy changes.
Women are often praised for their resilience, flexibility and willingness to put family first. Yet those same qualities can leave many exposed to a quieter financial danger: the erosion of their retirement security through years of caregiving, interrupted work and deferred saving.
Momentum, marking the eighth season of its She Owns Her Success campaign during Women’s Month, argues that the cost of care is often hidden until much later. A woman may step back from work for school runs, elderly parents, childcare or a family emergency, using her own money to steady everyone else’s lives. The effect may not be obvious at the time, but the long-term impact can be severe.
Research from the Transamerica Institute and the US Treasury points to the same underlying problem: women are more likely than men to spend time out of the workforce, work part-time or accept roles that make consistent saving harder. The Treasury has said these interruptions reduce lifetime earnings, employer contributions and retirement balances, while the Transamerica Institute says women also tend to live longer, meaning their savings must stretch further.
Momentum’s Women and Financial Advice study adds another layer. It found that 79.3% of women are the main financial decision-makers in their households, yet only 4.1% use a certified financial adviser. That gap matters because retirement planning is not only about discipline. It is also about navigating pay gaps, career breaks and the compounding effect of lost time in the market.
Other analysis reinforces that point. Brookings has found that retirement differences between women and men are shaped by lifetime earnings, caregiving responsibilities and longer life expectancy, while PensionBee has said women retire with significantly less savings on average. Kiplinger, meanwhile, notes that women often save consistently once they start investing, but lower incomes and delayed starts can still leave them behind. The message is clear: women do not need lectures about saving more so much as planning that reflects the realities of their lives.
For women, and the families who depend on them, the challenge is to treat retirement as part of care, not separate from it. That may mean protecting contributions during career breaks, asking how family costs are shared, or getting advice before a setback becomes permanent. As Momentum suggests, the future should not be the thing women keep postponing.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to inform and educate, not to recommend or endorse any financial product, investment or strategy. Please consider your own financial circumstances and seek professional advice where appropriate before making financial decisions.
