Beliefs about the Gender Pension Gap and the Role of Financial Literacy

Last registered on January 08, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Beliefs about the Gender Pension Gap and the Role of Financial Literacy
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0010477
Initial registration date
November 28, 2022

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
November 30, 2022, 4:40 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
January 08, 2026, 1:29 PM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Jana Schuetz
Affiliation
Jönköping University, Jönköping International Business School
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2022-11-29
End date
2022-12-13
Keywords
Behavior, Gender
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study has two main objectives. The first is to understand what shapes respondents' beliefs about the gender pension gap, that is, what factors they take into account when giving their estimate and how this relates to their socioeconomic characteristics as well as their financial literacy. The second objective is to understand the impact of providing the right information to a random subsample and whether this changes respondents' views and attitudes about the fairness and impact of the gender pension gap and about policies that could help reduce the gap, and whether respondents' financial literacy matters.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Schuetz, Jana. 2026. "Beliefs about the Gender Pension Gap and the Role of Financial Literacy." AEA RCT Registry. January 08. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10477-1.2
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2022-11-30
Intervention End Date
2022-12-13

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The experiment will have three groups of outcomes:
1) Impact and fairness of the gender pension gap
2) Factors impacting the gender pension gap
3) Policy measures targeting different aspects of retirement savings and retirement income
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
All survey respondents are randomly selected into one of two experimental groups, one control group and one treatment group. In a first step respondents are asked about their prior beliefs about the gender gender differences in retirement income in the United States. Furthermore, they are asked to explain which factors they considered while giving their estimate. Respondents in the treatment group will then receive the correct information, while respondents in the control group do not receive any information. After the experiment, all respondents will be asked about impact, fairness and factors of the gender pension gap as well as about several policies. Towards the end of the survey all respondents are again asked about their beliefs.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done by a computer
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
3000 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Approximately 1500 individuals per experimental group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB of the Faculty of Business and Economics at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena
IRB Approval Date
2022-11-02
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

PAP_Beliefs about the GPG and the Role of FL.pdf

MD5: af03bac2fc119c45498dd0e125d3c370

SHA1: d2ff9e136b02405c531b0ad3e0ddd24616d712d5

Uploaded At: December 02, 2022

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
3000 individuals
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Abstract
I conduct an online survey of 3000 respondents in the United States to examine individuals’ beliefs about the gender pension gap. By including an information provision experiment in which treated respondents are informed about the size of the gender pension gap, I examine whether receiving this information causally affects respondents’ perceptions of the fairness and drivers of the gender pension gap and their support for policies aimed at reducing it. I find that most respondents underestimate the gender pension gap and that treated respondents are less likely to perceive the gender pension gap as fair. In addition, treated respondents perceive the unequal distribution of care work and gender differences in wages as more important drivers of the gap, and their demand for remedial policies such as targeted financial education increases significantly. This increase in policy demand is driven by male respondents and Republicans.
Citation
Schuetz, J. (2026). Beliefs about the gender pension gap. European Economic Review 184, 105244.
URL
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2025.105244

Reports & Other Materials