“Women baby boomers have grown up in a much different world than women currently in retirement.”  Alicia H. Munnell, Director, Center for Retirement Research, Peter F. Drucker Professor of Management Sciences Carroll School of Management, Boston College

Alicia Munnell addresses the ways that baby boomer women will enter retirement with substantially different characteristics than women retirees of previous generations. In her article “Female Boomers: Retirement’s Brave New World,” the author observes that while women boomers are more likely to be divorced or never married, which will result in lower retirement income and higher rates of poverty, they will have greater education and stronger labor force participation, which suggests higher earnings potential. The author examines the ramifications of the fact that despite their better educations and professional accomplishments, baby boomer women will need to work longer than their predecessors because of demographic factors, increased life expectancy, and the declining role of Social Security and private pension payouts.