More on Women and Social Security

September 29, 1999

On September 24, The Wall Street Journal's Greg Hitt reported on Margaret Martin, a North Carolina native who survives on "life's blessings" as much as on the mere $600 she receives in her monthly Social Security check, which is not enough to even lift her above the poverty level.

Like Margaret Martin, thousands of elderly women live in poverty because Social Security cannot provide enough for them. But with trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities to future Baby Boomer retirees, there is little prospect the current system can even maintain benefits, much less raise them for women like Margaret Martin.

Hitt's headline was "Elderly Women's Hope Fades for Social Security Overhaul." There is indeed little hope for improvement of any kind under the current system. But there is a better solution for women in retirement: privatization.

While Social Security privatization featuring personal retirement accounts would benefit everyone, Cato's Darcy Olsen has shown the particular benefits of privatization for women, be they married, single, divorced or widowed.

Greater Financial Security for Women with Personal Retirement Accounts.

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