LGBT workers in the U.S. have made more progress in retirement readiness than in several othercountries.

However, those who identify as female among the LGBT population trail with respect toretirement readiness, as do heterosexual women in the broaderpopulation. But compared to heterosexual women, LGBT women are evenworse off.

Those are among the findings of the study LGBT: Retirement Preparations Amid SocialProgress, a collaboration between the Aegon Center forLongevity and Retirement and nonprofits Transamerica Center forRetirement Studies and Instituto de Longevidade Mongeral Aegon.

While recent social progress for the LGBT community, such asdecriminalization of homosexuality and the right to marry, has beensubstantial, the battle is by no means won, the studyfinds. Lagging protections for jobs and benefits, including those provided bygovernments, harms LGBT workers.

Says the report, “In more than half of the world’s countries,LGBT people lack legal protection against workplacediscrimination.” That, together with still-existing legal bars toand criminalization of homosexuality and other discriminatoryfactors, “can impact LGBT people’s ability to access public healthsystems and protections…, both of which are necessary for achievingsocial equality and financial independence, particularly inretirement.”

The study finds that workers in the U.S. are able to do betterin preparing for retirement than in the eight other countriessurveyed: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, theNetherlands, Spain and the U.K.

While 70 percent of LGBT respondents globally say they feelpersonally responsible for having enough income in retirement, 84percent of U.S. LGBT respondents feel that way. In addition,79 percent of U.S. LGBT respondents feel very aware of the need toplan financially for their retirement, compared with 66 percent ofLGBT respondents globally; 72 percent feel able to understandfinancial matters when it comes to planning for their retirement,while just 57 percent overall do, and when thinking about theirpersonal retirement planning process, 65 percent feel their plansare well developed, compared with only 45 percent overall.

Although LGBT workers in the U.S. may be outpacing their peersaround the world, they still have quite a way to go to catch upwith where they need to be. Still, they’re doing better onretirement preparation than their heterosexual peers in the U.S.,and their attitudes reflect a greater sense of having to rely onthemselves for retirement.

In the U.S., 61% of LGBT workers are habitual savers compared to57% of heterosexual workers; 49% of LGBT workers have awritten plan for retirement compared to 32% ofheterosexual workers; interestingly, in the U.S., 69% of LGBTpeople are married compared to 66% of heterosexuals; and 46%of LGBT workers expect to provide financial support to their agingparents compared to 23% of heterosexual workers.

When it comes to those among the LGBT community who identify asfemale, the picture is not bright.

Not only are LGBT women likely to earn less than men in general,they also earn less than heterosexual women. More than other socialgroups, the study finds, LGBT women have fewer resources and fewerformal opportunities to save for their retirement.

According to Catherine Collinson, CEO and president ofTransamerica Institute and TCRS, and executive director of ACLR,while the retirement picture has certainly improved for the LGBTpopulation since society has become more accepting, there’s a lotstill to be done.

In the report, Collinson says, “Historically, the LGBT communityhas been a segment of the population most likely to retire inpoverty….”

Collinson adds, “The extent to which LGBT workers in the U.S.are saving and planning for retirement is impressive. However,continued social progress in LGBT communities in the U.S. andthroughout the world is needed to further bridge inequalities andfoster an inclusive environment that supports personal andprofessional growth and long-term financial security. We cannotforget the lessons of history and the current reality that manyolder LGBT people, in the absence of legal protections and same-sexmarriage rights throughout their working years, are now financiallystruggling in retirement.”

Under the current administration, that may remain a challengefor years to come. A new Accelerating Acceptance 2018 study from GLAAD, released at the WorldEconomic Forum, finds that in the U.S., “acceptance of LGBTQ peopleis slipping, and discrimination is increasing, in the face ofattacks, bias, and erasure by the Trump administration.”

This is the first time, it adds, that the AcceleratingAcceptance study has shown a drop in acceptance—which it calls“swift and alarming”—for LGBTQ people.

GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis writes in the reportthat she believes the contrast between the figures in this year’sreport and those of previous years comes at the hands of the Trumpadministration’s anti-LGBTQ platform and a lack of support for thequeer community at the national level.

Specifically citing anti-LGBTQ policies such as the proposed banon transgender people in the military, the appointment of a SupremeCourt justice opposed to marriage equality and the passage of aMississippi state law allowing businesses to legally deny servicesto LGBTQ families, Ellis writes, “This change can be seen as adangerous repercussion in the tenor of discourse and experienceover the past year.”