[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 720]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL SECURITY PRIVATIZATION ON WOMEN

  (Ms. SOLIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to represent the millions of 
American women who would be disproportionately hurt by privatizing 
Social Security.
  First of all, women on average earn less than men. Full-time working 
women still receive only 73 cents to every dollar earned by a man. This 
means that women count on Social Security's progressive benefits 
structure as their primary retirement income more than men.
  Women make up about 60 percent of Social Security beneficiaries, and 
on average live 6 to 8 years longer, so their savings run out sooner.
  In my district, there are more than 10,700 households headed by women 
who are the guardians of their families. The average income in my 
district is about $41,000, and Social Security assures economic 
stability for women retirees. At the end of 2003, women's average 
monthly retirement benefit in my district was about $798, and the men's 
average benefit was about $1,039.
  The gender disparities mean we must fight to protect women. Let us 
not call Social Security a crisis. Let us fix it so that everybody is 
treated equally and so that benefits are stabilized.

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