Senate Committee Holds Women’s Retirement Hearing* 

On July 25, the Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing, “Enhancing Women’s Retirement Security.” The hearing addressed suggestions for improving Social Security benefits for women.

Chair Herb Kohl (D-WI) opened the hearing with an explanation of the unique challenges facing women:

“In 2010, women over 65 were nearly twice as likely to live in poverty as men. The reasons for this are many: on average, women live longer than men. They make less money than men. And they are more likely to move in and out of the workforce to care for family members, which reduces their opportunities to contribute to a pension plan or Social Security.”

He continued by arguing for an enhanced special minimum benefit, a higher benefit for low-earning workers, which could be “done at a reasonable cost, and it would help ensure that career low-wage workers, who have little opportunity to save on their own, can avoid being stuck in poverty throughout their retirements.” He concluded by further identifying the root of the issue, saying, “SSA [Social Security Administration] has a responsibility to educate people about their benefits, and it needs to make sure people understand just how much money they are losing when they take their benefits sooner rather than later.”

Ranking Member Bob Corker (R-TN) echoed Sen. Kohl’s support for reform of the special minimum benefit, saying, “I think there is bipartisan support for something like that. And I appreciate you bringing it up. I hope as part of any fiscal reform package that we deal with over the course of the next six months, year and a half — I hope it's on the front end of that. I do think Social Security reform should be a part of that, and hopefully will be part of that, and my sense is the special minimum benefit that you're talking about very much should be a part of that also.” He also advocated for increasing awareness about delaying benefits: “One of the most responsible things that we could do here is … actually to do those things to make Social Security solvent for the long haul. But I think making people aware of the options that exist and certainly the ones you pointed out about deferral until a later age.”

LaTina Burse Green, assistant deputy commissioner for Retirement and Disability Policy at the Social Security Administration, explained the importance of Social Security for women:

“Although the Social Security program is gender neutral — individuals with identical earnings receive the same benefits — some elements of the program are particularly helpful for women for several reasons. First, women tend to live longer; second, women generally have lower lifetime earnings than men; and third, women often retire with smaller pensions and other assets than men.”

She went on to describe the specific impact of the spousal benefits: “In addition to potential eligibility for benefits as a retired or disabled worker, women may be eligible for benefits as a spouse, divorced spouse, or widow. These benefits are especially important to women because they are more likely to receive spouse’s or widow’s benefits due to their lower lifetime earnings, and many times women are eligible for spouse’s or widow’s benefits in addition to benefits they receive based on their own earnings. In other words, women may be entitled to benefits based not only on their own work and earnings, but on the work and earnings of a spouse.”

She also explained the importance for women of choosing when to start claiming benefits, saying that if a woman “chooses to start receiving benefits at age 62, her monthly benefit would be reduced to $750 to account for the longer period of time she will receive benefits. In general, the decision to receive benefits before the full retirement age permanently reduces her monthly benefit. If she chooses to wait to receive benefits until age 70, she would permanently increase her monthly benefit amount to $1,320.”

Illustration from Wikipedia

Pages: 1 · 2

More Articles

• Medicare Advantage Increasingly Popular With Seniors — But Not Hospitals and Doctors
• Julia Sneden Redux: Age Rage; Sometimes You Just Have to Strike Back
• Medical Billing and Collections Among Older Americans
• Shhhhhh by Ferida Wolff
• Women Consistently Earn Less Than Men; Women Are Over-represented in Lower Paying Jobs and, As They Age, the Pay Gap Widens Even More
• Rose Madeline Mula Writes: I’ve Got A Secret – NOT!
• Government of Canada Renews Investment in Largest Canadian Study on Aging
• Rose Madeline Mula Writes: I Feel Like That Carton of Milk In the Refrigerator Which Is Beyond Its Expiration Date
• Julia Sneden Writes: Age Rage; Sometimes You Just Have to Strike Back
• Once ADAS-trained, Older Adults Find It Easier to Access and Use Driver-assistance Technologies Without Compromising Their Attention to the Road