The gender wage gap is alive and well in retirement: The poverty rate for senior women and widows is 50 percent higher than other retirees 65 and older. A new report, Breaking the Social Security Glass Ceiling examines the challenges facing America’s elderly women and provides proposals to modernize benefits.

On April 30, 2012 IWPR President Heidi Hartmann joined Rachel Maddow to lay out the case that on average, women tend to earn less than men for an equal day’s work. For more information on the gender wage gap, please visit our pay equity and discrimination initiative.

Postsecondary education yields a variety of benefits, including increased earnings potential and access to quality jobs. However, a recently released IWPR fact sheet shows postsecondary degrees are not all equal in the benefits they bring to students. According to our research, women tend to obtain degrees in fields with lower earnings.

A new IWPR Quick Figure shows the percentage of persons 65 and older in beneficiary families relying on Social Security for 90 percent or more of their income. For more information on Social Security, please visit our Retirement and Social Security initiative.