U.S. Congress could hurt women with Social Security program slash

Leigh Wintz – WNN Opinion

Many senior women in the U.S. are vulnerable to decisions made by Congress concerning their Social Security and Medicare benefits. Image: Espen Faugstad

(WNN Washington, D.C.): When told her French subjects were starving, Marie Antoinette is said to have replied, “Let them eat cake.” Last summer, Alan Simpson rivaled that comment. The co-chair of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform wrote that Social Security was “like a milk cow with 310 million tits,” a misogynistic insult and symbolic slam at the benefit program older women depend on most.

Simpson is not alone in his sentiments. Even as you read this, members of Congress are debating how to reduce the federal deficit and raise the nation’s debt limit by proposing substantial cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, among other social safety net programs. If Democrats and Republicans fail to reach a deal by August 2, Social Security checks could be delayed by months or days.

While stalling or slashing Social Security would impact men and women alike, those most economically vulnerable—older women—will suffer the brunt. Why? Because two out of three seniors living in poverty are women, making up the largest group of impoverished elderly. A cut in Social Security will only make the situation worse.

Throughout their lives, women on average are paid less then men. Today, women who work full time still earn just 77 cents for every dollar men earn. Women only earn about 75 percent of men’s earnings from the time women are 45 to the time they reach about 65.

Women more often work at part-time jobs or take extended leave from the workforce to raise children or care for other family members. As a result, women are less likely to have pensions, investments or life savings—even though their contributions (paid or unpaid) are vitally important to ensuring a stable and prosperous society.

These variables, combined with the fact that women live longer than men, make older women extremely vulnerable in retirement. Even now, the amount a woman receives in Social Security is by no means a plush retirement plan.

The average yearly payout for women is about $12,000, while men average an annual benefit of $15,000. And at least 46 percent of all single women over age 65 receiving Social Security benefits rely on that money for more than 90 percent of their income. A significant proportion of women of color rely exclusively on Social Security for their retirement income.

Women’s organizations are urging Congress to reach a budget deal that will respect women’s contributions to the economy and society—whether paid or not—and their need for economic security. We are demanding a budget agreement that will protect programs that serve women and reject cuts that threaten women’s wellbeing.

Social Security must not be a bargaining chip during deficit reduction negotiations, nor should solving the deficit problem rest on the backs of vulnerable women. If Congress decides to push in that direction, older impoverished women will be barely surviving, much less “eating cake.”
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U.S. Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) urges her colleagues to oppose legislation that would cut crucial nutrition benefits for thousands of Hawaii’s most vulnerable, and hundreds of thousands all across the country while the richest in the country and the oil companies continue to get their billions in tax breaks. This 2:27 min June 14, 2011 video is a production of the Office of U.S. Congresswoman Hirono.

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Leigh Wintz has served as executive director for Soroptimist International of the Americas since 1991. Soroptimist is an international women’s volunteer organization whose mission is to improve the lives of women and girls in local communities and throughout the world. Wintz has published work in journals including Non-Profit World, Governance & Management of the Non-Profit Organization, Journal of Nursing Administration, Wingspread Journal and The Nursing Spectrum.

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U.S. Congress could hurt women with Social Security program slash

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