Why Social Security Should Matter More To Women

For years we’ve heard about inequalities in the workplace. Now it’s time to focus on potential inequalities in retirement. A recent report by Yahoo! Money points out that women “need more money for retirement” than men because they live longer, typically earn less, and have to take on additional responsibilities (like childcare or caring for elderly parents) that disrupts their income earning.

And it looks like things will continue to get worse before they can get better. That’s because almost three million women dropped out of the workforce this past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing many working women to dip into their retirement savings.

So, what’s the solution?

It starts by increasing monthly Social Security retirement benefits for all seniors, establishing a fair annual cost-of-living adjustment that takes into account the costly expenses seniors incur such as medical care, and shoring up the long-term solvency of Social Security to make sure it’s there for retirees – today and tomorrow. This is particularly important for women who tend to live longer than men.

All of this will happen when Congress passes the Social Security Expansion Act. The Seniors Trust has been working diligently to convince lawmakers of its importance. You can show your support by signing its petition and telling lawmakers that you want them to enact this landmark piece of legislation to help ALL older Americans — women and men.