If Social Security is part of your retirement
plan, knowing how your expected benefit stacks up against the national
picture is worth a few minutes. For women specifically, the data shows a
consistent and persistent gap compared to men, one that traces back to decades
of earning history rather than anything in the benefit formula itself.
Here is what the average woman actually receives, why the gap exists, and what
can still be done to close it before you claim.
What women actually receive
According to the Social Security Administration, the average Social Security check for
a 70-year-old woman is $2,204, compared to $2,530 for a 70-year-old man, a gap
of roughly 13%. At age 62, the gap is similar in proportion: men average $1,573
per month, women average $1,286, a difference of $287 a month, or roughly $3,444
a year.
The gap widens in dollar terms as claiming age increases.
Looking at the overall retired-worker population rather than by claiming
age, men receive about $401.50 more per
month than women on average, a gap that adds up to roughly $4,817 per year.
Importantly, this is not because the Social Security formula treats men and
women differently. It applies the exact same calculation to every worker. The gender gap exists entirely because of differences in lifetime earnings history feeding
into that calculation.
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Why the gap exists
Social Security retirement benefits are calculated using a worker’s 35
highest-earning years, adjusted for inflation, to determine what the SSA calls
average indexed monthly earnings. That figure then runs through a formula to
produce the primary insurance amount, the benefit paid at full retirement age.
Two structural factors drive the gender gap in that calculation. The first is
the wage gap itself. According to the Economic Policy Institute, women were paid
18.6% less than men on average in 2025, even after controlling for race and
ethnicity, education, age, marital status, and state. That means even a woman
with the same education, experience, and job category as a male colleague typically has lower lifetime earnings, which feed into her Social Security
calculation, simply because her hourly and annual pay was lower throughout her
career.
The second factor is career interruptions. Many women take time out of the
workforce for caregiving, whether for children, aging parents, or other family
members. Every year without earnings is a year that can show up as a zero in the
35-year calculation if a woman has not worked at least 35 years total. Zeros
pull the average down directly, which lowers the resulting benefit regardless of
how strong her earnings were in the years she did work.
What you can do about it
The benefit formula cannot be changed by an individual, but the inputs that feed
into it can be influenced with the right strategy.
Work 35 years if at all possible
Because the calculation uses your 35 highest-earning years and fills any gap
below 35 years with zeros, working fewer than 35 years directly drags down your
average. If you are short of 35 years and still working, every additional year
worked can replace a zero in the calculation, which often raises the benefit
more than people expect.
Maximize income in your remaining working years
Because the calculation only uses your 35 highest years, a raise, promotion, or
career change later in life can replace a lower-earning year from earlier in
your career, even if you already have 35 years on the books. Higher recent
earnings can meaningfully lift your average indexed monthly earnings.
Delay claiming past 62 if you can
Claiming at 62 results in a permanently reduced benefit, up to 30% lower than
waiting until full retirement age. Each year of delay past 62 adds a meaningful
percentage increase, and the single largest jump comes from waiting all the way
to age 70, when delayed retirement credits add roughly 8% per year past full
retirement age.
Understand spousal and survivor benefits
Women are eligible for spousal benefits worth up to 50% of a husband’s primary
insurance amount if that figure is higher than their own benefit, and survivor
benefits worth up to 100% of a deceased spouse’s benefit. These provisions
matter disproportionately for women, whose average life expectancy remains
roughly five years longer than men’s. A woman who outlives her spouse by a
decade or more needs her retirement income, including Social Security, to
stretch further than a man’s typically does, which makes survivor benefit
planning especially consequential.
Bottom line
The average woman receives meaningfully less in Social Security benefits than
the average man, and the reasons trace back to a persistent wage gap and the
disproportionate share of caregiving responsibilities women carry across a
career. The formula itself is neutral; the inputs are not.
Knowing where you stand relative to these averages is one piece of understanding
how well you’ve prepared
for retirement, but it is not the whole picture. Working additional years to
replace zeros, maximizing earnings where possible, delaying your claim, and
understanding survivor benefit rules are all levers within your control, even
after decades of lower earnings have already shaped your benefit calculation.
FAQs
Can a stay-at-home mom get Social Security benefits?
Yes, a woman who never worked outside the home, or who worked too little to qualify for her own retirement benefit, can typically collect a spousal benefit worth up to 50% of her husband’s primary insurance amount while he’s alive, or a survivor benefit worth up to 100% of his benefit if he passes away. She doesn’t need any work history of her own to qualify for either one, as long as she meets the marriage length and age requirements.
Does getting divorced affect a woman’s Social Security benefit?
Divorce doesn’t reduce the Social Security benefit a woman earns from her own work record. It can, however, open up an additional option. If the marriage lasted at least 10 years, she may be able to claim a benefit worth up to half of her ex-husband’s primary insurance amount, even if he has remarried, without affecting his payment in any way.
Why do women receive less in Social Security than men?
Women generally receive smaller Social Security benefits because payments are based on lifetime earnings. On average, women earn less than men over their careers and are more likely to take time away from work for caregiving or work part-time, all of which can reduce future Social Security benefits.
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Author Details
Chris Lewis, CEPF
Chris Lewis has spent his career turning data into answers. As Director of Digital PR at FinanceBuzz and a Certified Educator in Personal Finance, he oversees the data journalism and media relations teams, digging into the personal finance topics that shape Americans’ lives at every stage, from Social Security and retirement income to 401(k) strategies, jobs, and real estate.
