And we want Congress to stand up, step up and take up the real needs of women, children and families today. In my opinion, the test for the new Congress boils down to whether it deals honestly with four issues that are critical to women. First, Congress must save Social Security. Social Security is crucial to women. Women retire with far less retirement income, smaller pensions and less savings.
Women live longer.
And older women face poverty at alarming rates. For many women, Social Security means financial security. Older unmarried women get half their income from Social Security. For one-quarter of these women, a Social Security check is their only income. So before Congress spends down the federal surplus, it must think about our mothers and grandmothers, and put Social Security first.