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Social Security Holds High Stakes for Women
By Pamela Brogan, USA Today
March 22, 2005
Women have more at stake than men in President Bush's plan to make individual investment accounts part of Social Security.
Women are more likely to receive Social Security benefits, live longer after retiring, have less money and rely more heavily on the government retirement insurance program, according to federal and private data.
Some groups representing women and minorities say individual investment accounts would transform Social Security and its guarantee of lifetime benefits into a risky investment plan.
"Privatization is about taking benefits away from women," said Heidi Hartmann, president of the Institute for Women's Policy Research. "I'm disgusted that this is not talked about more. I guess it's because President Bush is setting the agenda and he doesn't want to talk about how women and men use Social Security."
Others say Bush's plan would be no more risky for women than the current system.
"Women are smart enough to decide for themselves whether they want a personal account," said Leanne Abdnor, executive director of Women for a Social Security Choice and a member of the bipartisan panel Bush assembled in 2001 to propose solutions to Social Security's looming financial problems.
"The existing system is a risk because the country is dependent on elected officials to decide their level of benefit," Abdnor said.
Social Security is the only source of income for one of every four women 65 or older, according to the Institute for Women's Policy Research.
Women also depend 10 times more heavily than men on the parts of Social Security that pay benefits to widows and widowers and to the spouses and children of disabled workers. Bush's plan is silent on how those benefits would fare under his proposal.
In New York, 21 percent of women and 17 percent of men receive Social Security, compared to a U.S. average of 22 percent and 18 percent respectively, according to the National Women's Law Center, citing statistics from the Social Security Administration and the U.S. Census.
Women in New York represent 59 percent of all people 65 and older who receive Social Security, compared to a national average of 58 percent, the law center said. A typical Social Security widow's benefit in the state is $901 a month, compared with a national average of $865, the center said.
Without Social Security, 55 percent of elderly women in the state would be poor, compared to a national average of 54 percent.
The issue of how widows, widowers, and spouses and children of disabled workers would fare under changes in the program is a particular concern for black women. They are disproportionately single and in poor health and are twice as likely as white women to receive disability benefits.
Maya Rockeymoore, vice president of research for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, said individual accounts "represent a threat of deep poverty because they reduce the 'guaranteed' aspect of Social Security."
Opponents of Bush's plan also note that women typically earn less than men, which makes many women reluctant to support any changes to Social Security. Currently, workers who earn lower wages get a larger percentage of their income back after they retire than do higher-income workers. Social Security benefits also include a cost-of-living adjustment.
Income from personal investment accounts would not favor lower-income beneficiaries, aren't guaranteed to last a lifetime and don't offer a cost-of-living adjustment.
Kathy Dymes, a Cortlandt retiree, said Social Security probably needs changes. Some workers with the talent for it could do well with individual investment accounts, she said, but she questioned whether it would work for everybody.
"I wasn't a good planner," said Dymes, 65. "I think some people need to have their money managed for them."
Jean Angiello, a bookkeeper who lives in Hawthorne and has two children, said individual accounts could be a good idea. She also disputed the idea that women have a greater stake in Social Security because of their gender.
"It should be there for everybody," said Angiello, 54. "I think it's equal opportunity for both sexes."
But a political solution to the debate "is going to be a long time in coming," she said.
"There's such negative feedback about Social Security," she said. "I'm not so much concerned for myself. I'm concerned for my kids."
Connie Jones, 78, of Bull Shoals, Ark., relies solely on her $792 monthly Social Security check.
"I don't think we should change Social Security, but I do think we should encourage young people to save," Jones said. "Social Security allows me to live independently."
In Arkansas, 66 percent of women would be living at or below the federal poverty level without Social Security.
Bush's plan would affect only workers who are age 54 and younger. Jones and other current retirees wouldn't be affected by the accounts, but their opinions have helped shape the debate over the proposal.
"I support investment accounts but only if they are in addition to Social Security," said Jones, who raised a family then worked for 15 years as a dietician after her marriage ended. "I want Social Security to be there for younger women."
Some younger women, including Sandra Jones, 27, of Des Moines, Iowa, believe that creating personal accounts would be less risky than doing nothing to change Social Security.
"I'm not afraid of the small risks," said Jones, a state lobbyist. "My generation is going to get the short end of the stick unless we do something. It really frustrates me when I hear politicians say that 70 percent of the benefits will still be there in 40 years if we don't do anything. Are you kidding me? Seventy percent is not good enough."
Bush would let younger workers invest up to 4 percent of their first $90,000 of income in personal accounts consisting of a limited array of stocks and bonds. When those workers retire, their Social Security benefits would be reduced by an amount roughly based on money accrued in the personal accounts.
Alma Morales Riojas, president of MANA, a national Latina organization, said private accounts probably wouldn't benefit Hispanic women because they don't earn enough to set aside money for investments.
Riojas said Latino women also live longer than white or black women, according to 2002 census data. As a result, Latino women depend on Social Security to a greater extent for retirement income. Without it, 61 percent of Latino women age 65 and over would be living at or below the federal poverty level.
"Social Security is not just a safety net for us but a matter of survival," she said.
Depending on Social Security
Women depend on Social Security more than do men
. Fifty-eight percent of Social Security recipients 65 and older are women. Seventy percent of recipients 85 and older are women.
. Fifty-two percent of all Social Security beneficiaries are women. Thirty-nine percent are men and 8 percent are children. That translates into about 24 million women, 18 million men and 3 million children who rely on Social Security during any given month. In Arkansas, 272,000 Social Security beneficiaries are women, 205,000 are men and 41,000 are children.
. About 54 percent of women age 65 or older would be living at or below the federal poverty level without Social Security benefits. For Latino and black women, 61 percent would be at poverty level.
. Social Security is the only source of income for about one of four women age 65 or older. Social Security is the only source of retirement income for 41 percent of Latino women.
. About 20 percent of unmarried women age 65 or older live in poverty compared with 5 percent of married female seniors. Without Social Security benefits, more than two-thirds of single, female seniors would live in poverty.
. Women rely on Social Security for a larger portion of their retirement income than men do because only 30 percent of women receive pension benefits compared with 47 percent of men. Because women earn less than men, they receive on average less than half of what men receive in pension benefits.
. Women live to an average age of 80 compared with 75 for men, and women rely disproportionately on survivor benefits. Social Security's cost-of-living hikes help shield women from inflation and poverty as they age.
. Divorced women who were married for at least 10 years earn spousal benefits based on a former husband's earnings, no matter how many other times the husband was married.
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