The Social Security spousal benefit helps many women, even if they did not work at all outside the home. Prescription drugs account for the single largest expense for older adults, second only to premium payments. Almost every drug that comes through the US Food and Drug Association for approval has been examined for effects in the elderly. One in nine women between the ages of 45 and 64 has some form of heart disease. One in three women age 65 and older has heart disease.
Women are the victims of half of all fatal heart attacks each year.
This is approximately two and a half times less than men's median benefit. Most retirement plans require five years of active employment to be qualified to receive benefits. The median length of stay at a job for women is 3.8 years versus 5.1 years for men. As a result, less than one-third of women working in the private sector qualified for retirement benefits in 1998. Those women that do participate contribute a lower percentage of pay to these plans and are more likely to withdraw money prior to retirement.