Inequities in income security

Linda Rosenman, MSW, is a Ph.D. candidate at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Wash ington University, and Assistant Professor, School of Social Service, St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri. Women are overrepresented in the benefits to current or previous labor poverty population in the United force attachment, understanding the States. In 1974 when the median inpattern of women's participation in the come was approximately $12,000 a labor force is important in compre year, 66 percent of female-headed hending the current anomalies in the families had incomes below $7,000, income security system. This participa compared with only 20 percent of tion is changing rapidly. At present, 42 male-headed families.1 In 1973, alpercent of all wives work at some time though female-headed families comduring their married lives.3 The pat prised only about 23 percent of all tern most common among married families, they constituted almost 40 women is to work full time at a job percent of the low-income population, after marriage until the birth of the The picture is no better for women first child. Women then usually with who live alone. They make up 14 perdraw from the labor force during the cent of the low-income population, time of child-bearing and child-rearing compared with 6 percent for men livand reenter it, at least on a part-time ing alone.2 The majority of women basis, by the time that the youngest who are poor lack the financial support child is in school. Many married of a male. Poverty is especially prowomen continue to work part time or nounced among those who are unable part of the year for the rest of their to work and are forced to rely on lives, and many begin to work full time social welfare benefits. again once their children have left By and large, the income support home.4 systems in the United States are woeWomen tend to be crowded into fully inadequate in their coverage of low-paying jobs. Many of them, espe women. In part they are overtly discially those in minority groups, hold criminatory, and in part they have jobs in peripheral industries or are simply failed to keep pace with the seasonal workers; they have little if changing patterns of living, work, and any job security and may work for family arrangements in our society, several different employers during the This article will review what the major course of a year, income support programs do for The fragmented pattern of many women and will suggest possible direcwomen's working lives and the kinds tions for change that might lead to of jobs that they take have serious more adequate and equitable coverage implications for the income security for them. The programs to be considcoverage they can expect to receive, ered are the public and private retireHence the sources of discriminatory ment systems, unemployment insurtreatment under these programs should ance, and public assistance. be analyzed. The support systems designed to take the place of earnings tend to reflect stereotypes of women and the family that—even if true when the Discrimination in income security pro programs were initially planned—are grams can take two basic forms, no longer valid. The social security 1. Some income security and health system, for example, is based on the insurance programs discriminate ideal of the intact family in which the against women by singling out and man is the breadwinner and his wife excluding from coverage conditions or and children are total dependents who circumstances that apply only to need to be provided for in the event women, or mainly to them. The cover of his retirement, disability, or death, age for pregnancy and pregnancy Given the rapidly rising rate of marital related disabilities by unemployment breakup, programs obviously can no insurance and by private health in longer be predicated on the belief that surance and disability plans aptly a woman will be the lifelong dependent illustrate such discrimination, of one responsible male. 2. Income security policies discrim Since almost all income security inate against women to the extent that programs in this country closely link they are designed to fit the typical DISCRIMINATION