And it might be worse than imagined, it's important to keep in mind, because the study reflects only women with household income of $50,000 or more; nearly 60% were employed, and three-quarters of them had advanced degrees.
Heidi Hartmann, president of the Institute for Women's Policy Research in Washington, who also spoke at the press briefing, said, "It is a survey of pretty much the top half of income distribution. The median household income for all families in 2008 was $50,000, and this survey was limited to those who make $50,000 or more. So if we see anything in this survey that's negative-while we worry that women lack confidence and don't have all the information they need-imagine what it's like for women in the bottom half of the distribution. Those women are even more disadvantaged in terms of the information they have and the information they need."
The survey found that while 95% of women are involved in household financial decisions, and one-fourth are the primary voices in those decisions, 64% say they have more work to do to protect their future financial security. Three-quarters of them expect to rely on Social Security. Hartmann says that it's because Social Security provides about half of the income for women over 65, whereas it only provides about a third of the income for men of that age. But it's not going to be all the income, and there will be needs to fill the gap.
Hartmann said that there is still a lot of good economic news for women in the survey because when women work full time they are now just as likely to participate in a pension plan as men are, which demonstrates the years of education that women have gained.
Cleveland added, "The good news behind this recession is that it has forced women to really develop this idea that they need to develop a financial plan."