Why women do not save for retirement : in search of determinants of saving procrastination, against the background of changes in pension systems

Abstract

PURPOSE: Demographic changes in recent years have made the existing pension systems ineffective, which is why they are being reformed; the bottom line of the reforms, however, is the fact that it is the employee who has to save additionally for their retirement. It should be noted that the ‘retirement period’ is very feminized, therefore women should be interested in additional savings. Given the above, the aim of this article was to identify the nature and strength of the correlations between women's decisions to put aside additional funds for their retirement and factors relevant to decision making, from the perspective of procrastination.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: In this study – which used the survey method – the authors analysed the situation in Poland. So far, the research on pensions has not linked the issues of saving for retirement by women and procrastination. In the study, the basket analysis method was used to achieve the purpose of the article and answer the research questions.

FINDINGS: The results showed that majority of women did not save extra for retirement, and settled for the compulsory contributions to the pension system. Additionally, it was found that women did not save because their earnings were too low and, at the same time, they distrusted the pension system; they also lacked information on pensions and investment options and, moreover, perceived the retirement period as a distant future. Many of the behaviours of women can be classified as procrastination. The obtained results may be useful to institutions that create the guidelines for pension policy in the European Union, as well as in its individual member states. They may also be a valuable analysis for women themselves, who should save to avoid poverty in retirement.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE: A new approach to the problem is that so far, the research on pensions has not linked the issues of saving for retirement by women and procrastination. Another new element of this study is the use of the basket analysis method to analyse the data from the survey.