For 65-year-old Renee Webster, retiring after a 35-year career as a customer service operations agent for DHL and moving across the country from Southern California to Atlanta this summer was a big step. which turned out to be the best decision.
“I’m getting older now, so it’s time for me to relax and enjoy my family.”
Webster now lives a few miles from her daughter, Rae, 46, and her granddaughter, maintaining an active and social lifestyle, which she says is “healthier for me because living in Los Angeles and not having family there… becomes a bit lonely”.
“You know, it can be a little depressing sometimes,” she says.
Webster, a black woman, is lucky to have finished her career in good health and with a pension. Decades in a well-paying job and access to quality health care have provided her with a comfortable retirement plan with the ability to relocate close to her family for mutual support. But for many black women, the accumulation of life experiences with structural disadvantage, including wage and employment inequality, means they face unique challenges that limit their ability to take their retire healthy, if at all.
Financial disparities weigh on black women
A 2020 Brookings Institution report found that gender disparities in lifetime income and savings are key drivers of women’s bleak retirement prospects. For black women, the “layers” of racial and gender inequality, including race pay gapwhich has worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic for black women and men, contributes to the lack of retirement prospects for black women, according to Geoffrey Sanzenbacherresearcher at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College and associate professor of practical economics at Boston College.
Black women earn 63 cents for every dollar earned by non-Hispanic white men, resulting in a monthly loss of $2,000, an annual loss of $24,110, and a lifetime loss of $964,400, or nearly one million bucks. according to National Women’s Law Center analysis using 2019 U.S. Census data. The same study shows that the typical lifetime loss for white women, compared to white men, is $555,360.
Women are also more likely than men to be caregivers, leading to career breaks. During this time, they may be unable to earn income, save money, or accrue Social Security benefits. The situation went from bad to worse in 2020, when women in low-wage jobs and female-dominated service sectors bore the brunt of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chronic unemployment or underpayment prevents people from saving or forces them to dip into their savings to pay for necessities, which slows or negates the accumulation of resources that people could use later in life, Sanzenbacher says. . “You can only save if you are above the point where you can afford to put money aside,” he notes.
Racial disparities negatively impact black women’s health
It’s not just economic disparity that’s hurting black women’s retirement prospects. Experts point out that their health can play an outsized role.
“Some of us may work in a toxic environment… being exposed to discrimination, racism, sexism and all types of workplace trauma that could affect our body and mind,” says Ijeoma Opara, Ph. .D., LMSW, professor at Yale. School of Public Health.
As a result, black women have the highest levels of what public health researchers call allostatic load – the cumulative burden of bodily “wear and tear” from chronic stress and adverse life events, compared to other groups in the workplace. The allostatic load is related to cognitive and physical decline, breast cancer in black women, heart disease, Diabetesand even death.
Health issues like these can complicate retirement plans. Whereas most American adults have a chronic condition, rates are much higher for black, Latino, Native American, low-income, and uninsured people. Chronic illnesses require frequent doctor visits, expensive treatments and medications to manage. Some have to delay their retirement plans to maintain their employer-based insurance coverage.
Tonya Phillips, 64, understands this all too well. Phillips lives in Conyers, Georgia with her husband of 34 years and is nearing the end of a career in public health and education. She and her husband were “very diligent” with their employer-based retirement plans – “it was always part of the discussions in my household” – and both inherited real estate which solidified their retirement plan. “I know if things get really tough, I always have somewhere to lay my head,” she says.
She was set to retire in May of this year, intending to get Medicaid after work ended, but those plans changed after her diagnosis of breast cancer in November 2021. “The reason why I’m still working, it’s because health insurance is of the utmost importance. for me right now. Yes, I could look in [health insurance] market and look for other things, but I know I have good coverage right now.
A 2018-2019 University of Michigan National Healthy Aging Survey found that one in five American adults between the ages of 50 and 64 were either staying employed, considering delaying retirement, or postponing retirement to maintain their health insurance with the employer.
Phillips had known her breast cancer surgeon for several years. The surgeon insisted that she be screened earlier than recommended, which led to a “very, very” early cancer diagnosis. “But it would have been a much different scenario if I had taken the chance to say, ‘Okay, well, I’m healthy, and the last [mammogram] was okay,” and being diagnosed with breast cancer and not having good health insurance.
Phillips did not need to undergo chemotherapy and takes medication as a preventive measure.
“Health is a big part of the different retirement patterns we see,” says Matt Mutchler, professor of health sciences at California State University, Dominguez Hills, pointing out that many are also “forced to retire earlier.” due to the accumulation of adverse health consequences “throughout life”. Being forced to retire early means fewer opportunities to earn a salary and contribute to savings, making it less likely that you will retire with financial security. Mutchler says people who retire early when they’re not financially ready “are going to have financial consequences for the rest of their lives.”
Trina Fletcher, professor of engineering and computer science at Florida International University, focuses on retirement planning in the financial literacy classes she leads, precisely because she knows that work, family, and community challenges can impact the physical and mental health of black women and present pressing issues. that cancel pension plans.
Strategic planning for old age, health and retirement is crucial for black women. Experts say they should work on creating a community who can help provide trusted care and support for older people, when health is likely to decline, while also being vigilant about finances. Improving financial literacy through digital tools, books and podcasts for black women can be empowering. Check to see if you’re maximizing your employer’s financial wellness benefits. A financial advisor, especially if they are black, can help you with issues that black women face. The Association of African American Financial Advisors has a tool to help locate one. Finally, black women should normalize conversations about money by talking with family and friends about financial security and retirement. “We need to remove the negative connotation around not talking about money,” Fletcher says.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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