Emerging From the COVID-19 Pandemic: Women's Health, Money, and Retirement Preparations

The pandemic intensified this situation. Many women became stretched beyond their limits, juggling paid employment with home schooling and caregiving for aging loved ones. As these unpaid family responsibilities increased during the pandemic, many women also experienced employment setbacks. Some women gave up their employment and dropped out of the workforce altogether.

Emerging From the COVID-19 Pandemic: Women’s Health, Finances, and Retirement Preparations serves as a call to action and provides recommendations for women, employers, and policymakers to improve retirement security. It examines the experiences of women employed by for-profit companies, and the impacts of the pandemic on their health, employment, financial well-being, and retirement preparedness. And it offers comparisons with men.

The report is based on findings from the 22nd Annual Retirement Survey which was conducted in late 2021 when many businesses were still operating at limited capacity and many workers were unemployed. The report is based on survey responses from more than 5,400 employed workers of for-profit companies.

2022 represents the 17th consecutive year that TCRS has published research on women and retirement. The goal of this research is three-fold: 1) to raise awareness of the retirement risks faced by women, 2) to highlight opportunities for women to take greater control of their finances, and 3) to inspire policymakers, the financial services industry, and employers to strengthen our retirement system by addressing structural issues and bridging inequalities.