Women majority of elders in poverty, UH finds

In the report, Browne said Social Security benefits are especially important for senior women in the state, as Social Security makes up more of older women’s annual income, 40 percent, compared with 29 percent of older men’s. Social Security benefits received by older women, on average $12,000, are roughly 80 percent of the average $15,158 older men receive.

The difference is due, in part, to the income gap between men and women as well as women frequently leaving the workforce to care for family members.

“Women tend to be the ones who give up years of their career when building families,” said Nicole Woo, senior policy analyst at the Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice. “When they do that they not only save less for retirement, they fall behind in their careers, they don’t get raises and they’re also not contributing to Social Security in those years.”

Woo said policies that support those who have family responsibilities, such as paid family leave, would help tighten the disparity and improve women’s financial security.

House Bill 607, awaiting Gov. David Ige’s signature, would establish the Kupuna Caregivers Program to help community members obtain care for elders while remaining in the workforce.

“It’s a gender-neutral bill, but it is more likely for women to leave their jobs to care for their elderly relatives,” Woo said.

In the study, Browne listed other strategies to remedy the issue, which included lawmakers fully enforcing existing legislation that holds employers accountable for gender and race disparities in hiring, salary, and promotion practices; improving access to affordable child care; and expanding pension and retirement benefits to include more part-time workers.