WHITE PLAINS, NY – A coalition of women Members of Congress today called on President George W. Bush to respond to the unique Social Security needs of women in his on-going public events on the issue.  While the President has spoken at considerable length about a purported “need” to partially privatize the program, he has not acknowledged the real costs entailed in such a program or the potential negative ramifications for millions of American women.  Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-Westchester/Rockland), a former Chair of the Congressional Women’s Caucus, joined the effort to bring attention to omissions.

“Social Security has a proven track-record of alleviating poverty among seniors, the disabled and children who have lost a parent.  We should be building on the strengths of the existing program, not jeopardizing the entire system through an unproven partial privatization scheme in response to a non-existent crisis,” said Lowey.  “The President should join us in making Social Security better rather than attempting to dismantle it."

The letter, signed by 35 female Members, points out the significant pitfalls women would face if the program were partially privatized.  For example, compared to the average man, women work fewer years outside of the home, earn less per year and live longer after retiring.  All of these factors mean that women depend more on guaranteed, lifelong Social Security benefits.  With less to invest in any private account plan, women could lose critical cost-of-living adjustments and, worst of all, even outlive their benefits.

“Under the current program, seniors receive a set benefit every month.  However, under a partial privatization plan, retirees would be put in the role of fortune teller – they’d have to estimate how long they think they’ll live and set the expenses accordingly.  Because women live longer than men, this would require them to stretch already-reduced benefits even thinner.  The President has not acknowledged this flaw in his plan and has poised no solution,” said Lowey.  “I’ve worked for years to improve benefits in the current program to be more response to the needs of women and families.  We should be focusing attention on existing needs, not on creating more problems.”

For many years, Lowey has introduced a package of bills to improve Social Security benefits for women by removing rules that limit or prevent women from receiving the financial assistance they have earned. These bills would allow disabled widows to collect full benefits regardless of age, and eliminate waiting periods for divorced spouse and widow benefits. In addition, they would allow a working widow to supplement her widow's benefits with earnings from her employment during ages 65 through 70.