MOTHERS' GROUP RE-FOCUSES SOCIAL SECURITY DEBATE

Mothers & More shines light on biases against mothers and other caregivers

ELMHURST, IL - As the debate over Social Security’s future financial stability rages on in Washington, a stirring can be heard from the rest of the country weighing in on a different, yet equally important issue related to Social Security – the built in biases in the system against mothers and other caregivers.

“The outdated values inherent in our current retirement systems reward mothers, and anyone who gives up earnings in order to care for others, with financial dependency and increased risk of poverty in old age,” says Kristin Maschka, President of Mothers & More, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of mothers.

In a recent paper released by Mothers & More, the organization details the inherent assumptions and biases in the creation of the system over 65 years ago, the current ramifications of those values and subsequent policies in today’s society, and basic non-partisan suggestions on how to remedy the problems.

The higher earner in the marriage (usually the husband) controls the bulk of both Social Security and retirement assets during the marriage and even after divorce. Single earner couples receive over 30% more in benefits than a couple earning the same amount where each spouse earns half. These are but two examples showing how the current system discourages women from working outside the home and sends women the message that they need to stay married since their economic security is tied to their status as a dependent of a wage-earning husband. Couple this with the facts that women are more likely to run out of personal savings because they live longer and that they have lower personal savings and Social Security benefits because they sacrifice earnings in order to care for children and the elderly, and it’s easy to see why a mothers support and advocacy group is so concerned.

According to Mothers & More, there have been fiscally responsible remedies proposed over the years to rectify these inadequacies. Among them: requiring spousal consent for changes to retirement assets; crediting lower earning spouses and single parents who provide care with an amount of credit toward Social Security; and “earnings sharing” which credits each spouse with half of the total household contributions to both Social Security and private accounts.

“We can design a comprehensive retirement system in which couples can choose to share paid work in the way that works best for them without rewarding or penalizing any of those choices, in which we honor the marriage promise by ensuring that control and ownership of retirement assets acquired during a marriage are shared equally by spouses while they are married and after a divorce, and in which Social Security benefit levels are related to all contributing work – both paid employment and unpaid care work,” says Maschka. “It’s time women and mothers demand attention to this issue. It’s time to take this opportunity to insist on changes to protect the economic security and personal autonomy of women, mothers and anyone who cares for others.”

Mothers & More is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of mothers through support, education and advocacy. The national member organization addresses the needs of mothers as individuals and members of society and promotes the value of all the work mothers do. Mothers & More encourages its members and the public to let their voices be heard on this issue. By visiting the website at www.mothersandmore.org, the public can learn more about the problem, write a note to the President and members of Congress and the Senate, write their own letters-to-the-editor for their local publications, and learn about valuable resources.

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