Both Sue and her husband Ned taught school for many years. Because Social Security benefits are calculated using a worker's highest 35 years of earnings, women who spend more than a couple years out of the workforce caring for a family receive extremely low benefits. She receives no credit at all for years when she is not employed. Her benefits must be calculated using low paying early jobs in order to include 35 years of earnings. Her monthly benefits were extremely low.
Numbers are even worse for African-American women.
A 60 year old woman living in Chicago's South Side earns the equivalent of only 2.75 percent a year after inflation. The current Social Security program transforms taxes from current workers into income for current retirees. However, if a married worker dies before retirement and has no children aged 18 or younger, it is very possible that no benefits other than the burial fee will be paid to the surviving spouse. Today's Social Security is not fair to divorced women. The National Center for Health Statistics says that an average marriage lasts for just over seven years.