Nonetheless, Social Security reform could affect women more than men, on average, because women are expected to earn less and live longer than men. In this testimony, I restrict my focus to the potential impact of Social Security reform on women's income in old age. The impact of reform on Social Security benefits for the disabled and young survivors, though a vitally important consideration, is beyond the scope of this testimony. The progressive schedule for benefits, the auxiliary benefits available for spouses and survivors, and the inflation-protected lifetime annuity payouts all favor women more than men. That is because, on average, women live longer and earn less than men.
Women also have lower incomes than men from pensions and other sources.
Social Security benefits represented more than half of family income for a majority of women ages 65 and older in 1997 and an even greater share for widows and other unmarried women. For a majority of older women with family income below the poverty line, Social Security represented at least 90 percent of family income. The changing position of women in the economy must be considered in any discussion of the impact of Social Security reform on women in the future, of course. Women born since 1950, in particular, are working in much greater numbers than women born before that year. The participation rate has grown most for women in their childbearing years.