Feminists Call For Strengthening Social Security, Not Peddling Privatization

Statement of NOW President Kim Gandy

August 22, 2001

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Let's face it, women are more dependent on Social Security than men. We live longer, we are less likely to have pensions, we earn less over our lifetimes because of pay inequity, and we spend an average of 11.5 years providing care for our children and our parents. So women can least afford to undercut a guaranteed lifetime benefit by gambling with it on Wall Street.

Women are disadvantaged by the current system, and we need to look at making the system more fair, not putting it at risk. For example, instead of recognizing women's care giving years as a benefit to society, the system punishes them with "Zero Credit" years that further dilute already-lower earnings compared to men. The average marriage last only seven years, yet a ten year marriage is required before spousal benefits are available. A short marriage combined with many years of care giving is a prescription for disaster.

The bottom line is that creating private accounts will funnel billions into the financial services industry while jeopardizing a well-established, albeit imperfect, safety net for millions of women.

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