03.31.05

Democratic Women Senators Rally to Stop Social Security Privatization

Cantwell hosts Seattle forum to spotlight Social Securityand its importance to American women

SEATTLE, WA – At a jam-packed town hall forum in Seattle today, five Democratic women Senators vowed to fight Republican attempts to privatize Social Security. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) was joined by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) at the event, where a number of Washington women shared their stories and expressed opposition to President Bush's plan. The Senators said they will fight to protect and strengthen Social Security for future generations, and highlighted the fact that the program is a lifeline for many Americans: without it, over half of this country's women seniors would live in poverty.

"Distorting the discussion of Social Security's long-term fiscal solvency with an effort to privatize the program does a disservice to today's seniors and future generations of Americans," said Sen. Maria Cantwell. "Sadly, it will be the women of this country that will pay a disproportionate share of the price for fake solutions like privatization."

President Bush and Republicans in Congress are pushing a plan to siphon money away from the Social Security Trust Fund and establish a new system of private accounts. In order to pay for the plan, they would have to slash Social Security benefits by a third or more. The privatization plan would also add nearly $5 trillion to the national debt over the next 20 years.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Senators today said they are committed to three principles for protecting and strengthening Social Security. First, any adjustments to the program should start from the premise of "doing no harm." They also highlighted the need to return to fiscal discipline and repay the Social Security Trust Fund. In addition, they said Congress should focus on ways to give Americans new, creative incentives to save outside of Social Security.

At today's town hall meeting the Senators also underscored a number of key facts that make the debate over Social Security particularly important for women:

For most senior women, Social Security is their only means of regular income. Some 90 percent or more of all American women over the age of 65 receive Social Security benefits. Even more importantly, 44 percent of these women rely on their Social Security benefits for at least 90 percent of their income.

In Washington state, about 453,000 women, 359,000 men and 48,000 children rely on Social Security benefits. Women represent 57 percent of all the Washingtonians 65 and older who rely on these benefits.

Today, women are far more likely than men to arrive at retirement with limited personal financial resources, with more low- or no-earning quarters in their employment records, and with no employer-provided pension. Part of this is the result of the wage gap between men and women in the workplace, which has actually gotten worse in recent years.

In 2000, Washington state ranked 38 th out of the 50 states in equal pay. Washington women earned 75.6 cents for every dollar earned by their male colleagues—while nationwide, women earned 77.6 cents per dollar.

Nationally, women have actually seen their earnings decline since then. In 2003, the real median earnings of men who worked full-time, year-round remained unchanged from 2002, at roughly over $40,000. Meanwhile, real median earnings of women with similar work experience decreased 0.6 percent to about $30,000. As a result, women make only 76 cents for every dollar that men earn, down from 77 cents for every dollar in 2002.

Over the course of a career, the wage disparity really adds up. For example, women between the ages of 25 and 34 earning $30,000 a year will lose over $815,000 over the course of their careers.

Lower earnings over the course of a career mean women rely more heavily on Social Security in their retirement, and their retirement incomes are lower. According to the National Association for Female Executives, women over 65 earned 43 percent less income than men in 1999. In fact, women earn less then men in every category of retirement: median Social Security benefits are $7,750 for women over 65, $11,040 for men. Median pension benefits are $5,600 for women over 65, and $10,340 for men.

The system of private accounts that the President has proposed would leave women worse-off than their male colleagues in the workplace. Women would start with much less to invest, and they'd no longer have access to Social Security's progressive benefits and the cost-of-living increases built into the current Social Security program. Because of women's longer life expectancy, many could face the very real possibility of outliving their assets.

Today's town hall forum was one of a series of meetings being held to respond to Americans everywhere who are concerned with the President's plan to privatize Social Security. Democratic Senators have traveled the country in recent weeks to talk about their commitment to protecting and strengthening Social Security.

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