What Are the Protections that Social Security Offers Women?
Social Security has two protections that are particularly important to women. First, Social Security has a benefit that lasts as long as you live. Second, it has a cost-of-living adjustment to protect against increases in the prices of the things you buy. If your income does not keep up with prices, you will become poorer and poorer with each passing year. Women can count on these two features of Social Security to protect them, regardless of their longevity. Don’t Women Have Pensions and Other Savings to Protect Them? No. Women are less likely to have an employer pension than are men. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, only 29% of women received income from pensions, compared with 44% of men. Moreover, when a woman does have a pension, it is likely to be smaller than a man’s. Among today’s retirees, the average private pension benefit for women is only about 60 percent of benefits received by men. Why Are Women Less Likely To Have a Pension and Other Savings? Women
