At the end of 1998, roughly 26 percent of women worked part-time, compared with 11 percent of men. Women account for 68 percent of all part-time workers. That is, among full-time workers, women earn 74 percent of men's earnings. Third, women take more years out of the labor force, since they interrupt their careers to care for young children or elderly parents. Of workers retiring in 1996, at the median a woman had worked 27 years over her lifetime compared to 39 years for a man.
Women also live longer than men do.
This gap has increased since 1940 and is expected to persist in the future. Because women live longer, they rely on Social Security for more years. They also become increasingly dependent on Social Security as they age. Among unmarried women, those aged 65 to 74 get 43 percent of their income from Social Security, whereas those 75 and over get 55 percent of their income from Social Security. The current Social Security program recognizes the special characteristics of women and compensates through its benefit structure for the fact that they earn less and live longer.