Research shows women face more poverty in retirement

Elderly women are 80 percent more likely to be impoverished

(Photo by Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images)

While the gender pay gap has been a debate for years, new research suggests women are more likely to live in poverty in retirement. 

Women are 80 percent more likely than men to be impoverished at age 65 and older, according to the National Institute of Retirement Security. 

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This number only increases as women age with a three times more likely chance when a woman is aged 75 to 79. 

It affects more women who raise children and who care for sick and elderly members, often spending savings and income on things besides retirement security. 

While researchers cite a pay gap for a major cause for retirement insecurity, other factors such as single parenthood, divorce and longer lifespan come into effect.

"Those increases in longevity come with huge increases in medical costs," Researcher at the National Institute on Retirement Security Jennifer Brown said. "Especially if you're taking things like long-term care or treatment for mental disabilities such as dementia and Alzheimer's."

Women are more likely to report Social Security as their biggest source of income with 50 percent to 38 percent for men, according to the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. 

Over a 40-year career, the pay gap between men and non-minority women adds up to an average of $430,480, according to the Census Bureau. 

Women's Median Earnings in the United States | Graphiq

Men's Median Earnings in the United States | Graphiq

However, the increasing lifespan means a woman in the United States today will live five years longer than the average man and about five years longer than her grandmother.