Insight: Focused Research Sheds Better Light on Dilemmas Women Face in Saving for Retirement
By Linda Jamison
Insight Overview
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Historically, researchers have paid very little attention to studying how women plan for retirement despite the data showing that, on average, women live longer than men and yet often fail to save enough for retirement. Satish Kumar, Sweta Tomar, and Deepak Verma’s 2019 literature review examines nearly four decades of research published worldwide on approaches to retirement planning. What they discovered during their review is a body of knowledge that is disorganized, biased, and incomplete. While women are more vulnerable to poverty, particularly as they age, they also bear more family and care responsibilities that can lead to limited employment choices and low-wage jobs that do not offer pensions. The authors have determined that new areas of study are needed that focus only on women and that measure the combined impact of the unique demographic, psychological, financial, social, economic, and circumstantial factors that influence women when they make their financial decisions about retirement. The authors assert that their work is the first of its kind and should be used as a guide for future research that is more qualitative, holistic, robust, and integrated.
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About the Author
Linda Jamison is an author, public speaker, and consultant who has served in senior executive positions in the US government, including in the White House. She has worked at the United Nations and was a senior leader with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where she was the founding dean of an international leadership academy. Jamison has trained and advised policymakers and political leaders in the art and practice of leadership both in the United States and abroad. She has a master’s degree from American University in Washington, DC, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Denver.