The Economic Effects of COVID-19 on Women

Since COVID-19 struck our shores in early 2020, women have been hurt the most economically. The pandemic has taken a serious toll on their finances. 51 percent of women reported COVID had hurt their financial situation.

Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies found that around 2 million women have left the labor force since the Covid outbreak and our way of life was forced to change. Travel stopped and kids had to stay at home. Women left the workforce to home-school kids learning remotely or care for loved ones or elderly parents.

When you aren’t working, and are claiming unemployment or living on grants and savings, you aren’t getting money in the same way as before and this will have a negative effect on your overall financial wellbeing and stability. The loss of nearly two years’ worth of earnings meant there was also a two-year gap in their retirement savings plan. This could lead to many women having financial issues in the long term.

The same Transamerica study found that women had far less saved when it comes to retiring. Women had less than half the $118,000 men had. Their emergency fund savings were also less than half the amount their male counterparts had saved.

Since the Covid pandemic women are much less likely than men to feel confident that they will be able to retire in comfort and live worry-free when it comes to their finances. Women worry more than men about Social Security. The study found that some worry that their Social Security benefit payments could be reduced or even worse, completely disappear as time goes by. A much higher number of women feel they will have to rely on Social Security for their main source of retirement income.

Rafe Klein, Senior Vice President of David Lerner Associates, says “Planning for retirement after Covid will need to rethink if you have left the workforce for two years. If you are a woman and have concerns about your financial future you should get expert advice and start trying to build a more secure retirement outlook. Getting advice for your future either virtually or in your home is easy to arrange and will help you make informed choices.”

The fact that so many women are disproportionately affected is a concern for many. Women should not be left out in the cold when it comes to their financial stability and their retirement could be endangered.

 

 

 

 

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