THK: Bush no help to women in poverty

[Island Blue]

Wednesday, September 6, 2006

Bush no help to women in poverty

TERESA HEINZ KERRY and JEFFREY LEWIS
GUEST COLUMNISTS

Today, one in five of America's retired single women and widows live in poverty, and millions more may be just one tragedy or illness away from sharing that fate. But the Bush administration continues to explore Social Security and Medicare "reforms" that are likely to make the status of retired women even more unstable.

The roots of retirement insecurity for women lie in their working lives. Women earn less and spend more years out of the work force, caring for children or parents, leaving less money to set aside for retirement.

As divorced or single parents, they outnumber their male counterparts 5-1, and are more likely to be rearing minor children -- again cutting into their ability to save.


They're also less likely to have jobs that offer retirement plans. And, because they earn less, their Social Security checks are smaller when they retire. Today, the checks of newly retired men are, on average, 47 percent larger than those of women.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/283916_women06.html

Damn, why isn't this woman our First Lady? So incredibly intelligent, so unbelievably caring. (Just like her husband.) Why people had difficulty seeing this in '04 is beyond me.

(Please forgive me if this has already been posted. I looked, but didn't see it if it has been.)

[ProSense]

1. Very timely and excellent as usual!

I second your comments IB!

[karynnj]

2. Me too - the comments are toxic though

There were a few sensible ones.

[Democrafty]

3. That's wonderful!

It's so great that she's taken up these issues.

[TayTay]

4. Her columns about pensions and now the retirement situation

for women are wonderful and show a concern and caring for the lives of average Americans and the real problems that real people face. I just love her.