Among unmarried adults, “there’s a significant wealth gap between men and women. Image: David Pereiras/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffA study has found a significant gender gap in retirement savings—as well as housing-based wealth—among single persons, while also showing a substantial impact on single women of having a child or children in the household.
Among unmarried adults, “there’s a significant wealth gap between men and women. In 2022, the typical single man had $82,100 in wealth, compared with $58,100 for the typical single woman, according to U.S. Census Bureau data,” said the Pew Research Center.
“But among unmarried women, wealth varies considerably between those who have children under 18 in the household and those who don’t. Households headed by unmarried women who do not have children under 18 had a median wealth of $87,200 in 2022 – similar to households headed by unmarried men. In contrast, the median wealth of households headed by unmarried women with children was $10,700,” it said.
It said that usable data were not available regarding single men with children in the household because of their lower numbers.
Regarding retirement savings, it said that single women without children in the home were just about as likely as single men to have a 401(k)-type account or IRA, and that the amount of savings was also about the same. Forty-eight percent of single women without children and 50 percent of single men owned a retirement account in 2022, compared with 40 percent of single mothers.
“Unmarried women without a child who have a retirement account had a median amount of $43,700 in those accounts, not far below the $45,000 single men had accumulated. In contrast, the median amount in the retirement accounts of households headed by a single mother was $12,000,” it said.
It said the same pattern held true regarding home ownership. Slightly more single women without children in the household owned homes than single men—50 to 47 percent—and their home equity (the value of the home minus what is owed on it) also was slightly higher, a median of $165,000 vs. $150,000.
In contrast, only 34 percent of single mothers owned their home, with a median equity of $114,000.
The report added that one contributing factor is age, since “older household heads tend to have greater wealth than younger ones. And among heads of households, unmarried women without children are older, on average, than unmarried men.”
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