ADP Research Institute® Retirement Study Reveals New Gender Gap: More Women Are Saving Than Men

ROSELAND, N.J., April 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- ADP^®, a leading global provider of Human Capital Management (HCM) solutions, today announced the findings of a new ADP Research Institute^® study that examined the retirement savings rates of approximately 9 million U.S. employees in 2013.  The study found that 60 percent the workers saved for retirement at an average salary deferral rate of 7 percent.  Across most wage categories, women saved at a higher rate than men, and workers save more as they approach retirement.   

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"The Retirement Savings Paradigm: Factors Influencing Saving found that more women are saving for retirement than men," said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and head of the ADP Research Institute. "Factors such as lower incomes and time spent out of the workforce still put women at greater risk of not achieving a secure retirement.  But efforts by financial advisors and agencies to raise awareness among women of the importance of saving for retirement appear to have made an impact."

In addition to determining the average retirement saving rates, segmentation of the data by age, gender, compensation level, and industry revealed the following insights:

• More Women are Saving Than Men: Not only are more women saving, they have a higher savings rate than men, despite the fact that women are disproportionately represented in lower wage jobs.  
• Gen Y Workers Are Slow to Start: Less than half of employees in the 20-29 age bracket saved compared to 65 percent in the 50-60 age bracket.  What's more, 20-29 year olds saved on average less than 5 percent, whereas those in the 50-60 age bracket set aside 7.7 percent.  At the same time, those in the 61-69 bracket saved more than 9 percent.  This data reinforces a lifetime savings pattern: as retirement nears, more employees attempt to "catch up" on their savings.
• Small Business Employees Save More: While a higher number of employees who work for larger companies saved, they tended to save at lower rates than employees who work for smaller firms.  In companies with fewer than 20 employees, the savings rate exceeded the average of 7 percent across all the industries measured.
• Compensation Dictates Savings Rates: In general, workers in higher wage groups save, and they save more. For example, in large companies (more than 5,000 employees), only 50 percent of workers in the lowest wage category saved, but 80 percent of those earning more than $110,000 saved.
• Industry Matters: Workers in the financial activities and information industries had retirement saving rates that are among the highest, at 70 percent and above.  In comparison, only 37 percent of employees working in the leisure and hospitality sector saved.  Construction is only slightly better, with 45 percent of employees having put away money.

"While this new report reveals noteworthy insights and some encouraging trends, it also reflects that much more needs to be done to help Americans prepare themselves for a financially secure retirement," said Chris Augelli, vice president of product marketing and business development at ADP Retirement Services.  "The data also suggests that particular attention needs to be paid to better engaging younger generations in the retirement savings process early in their careers, to help them take advantage of the power of compound earnings over time to achieve their retirement goals."

To watch a brief video about the key findings of the study, please click here.

Click here to view an infographic display of the key findings.

To obtain a free copy of The Retirement Savings Paradigm: Factors Influencing Saving, please click here, or visit adp.com/research.

About the ADP Research Institute^®
The ADP Research Institute is a specialized group within ADP that provides insights to leaders in both the private and public sectors around issues of human capital management, employment trends and workforce strategy. For more information about the ADP Research Institute, visit: www.adp.com/research.

About ADP
With more than $11 billion in revenues and more than 60 years of experience, ADP^® (NASDAQ: ADP) serves approximately 620,000 clients in more than 125 countries.  As one of the world's largest providers of business outsourcing and human capital management solutions, ADP offers a wide range of human resource, payroll, talent management, tax and benefits administration solutions from a single source, and helps clients comply with regulatory and legislative changes, such as the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  ADP's easy-to-use solutions for employers provide superior value to companies of all types and sizes.  ADP is also a leading provider of integrated computing solutions to auto, truck, motorcycle, marine, recreational vehicle, and heavy equipment dealers throughout the world.  For more information about ADP, visit the company's Web site at www.adp.com.

Contact:
Dick Wolfe
ADP
(973) 974-7034 Office
(201) 396-5954 Mobile
[email protected]  

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SOURCE ADP (Automatic Data Processing, Inc.)