Women and Social Security Alert (June 2012)

EMAIL ALERT ON WOMEN AND SOCIAL SECURITY

June 2012

ITEMS IN THIS ALERT

In the News

• Senate Finance Committee Holds Hearing, Commissioner Testifies
• NCPSSM Releases New Report on Women and Social Security
• Report Finds Large Portion of Social Security Benefits Going to Healthcare

New Research

• EPI Report: Can workers offset Social Security cuts by working longer?
• CBPP Report: What the 2012 Trustees' Report Shows About Social Security
• CEPR Report: The Impact on Inequality of Raising the Social Security Retirement Age
• CEPR Issue Brief: Who's (Still) Above the Social Security Payroll Tax Cap?
• The Urban Institute: Age Disparities in Unemployment and Reemployment During the Great Recession and Recovery

Upcoming Events

• Demystifying Social Security: 2012 Summer Academy for Interns (Seminar I)

IN THE NEWS

Senate Finance Committee Holds Hearing, Commissioner Testifies
Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue testified before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, May 17, telling Congress that the growing backlog in disability cases will persist until budget cuts to the agency cease. The number of disability claims has risen in the recession years.

NCPSSM Releases New Report on Women and Social Security
The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, along with NOW and the Institute for Women's Policy Research, held a congressional briefing May 11 on the release of a new report on women and Social Security, entitled, "Breaking the Social Security Glass Ceiling: A Proposal to Modernize Women's Benefits." The report offers options for strengthening Social Security's financing, suggesting reforms designed both to close the current program deficit and fund program improvements to ensure that benefits are adequate for all Americans, especially women.

Report Finds Large Portion of Social Security Benefits Going to Healthcare
A new report released by Fidelity Investments finds that a couple retiring in 2012 will need $240,000 to pay for their medical expenses throughout retirement. This is a 4 percent increase from the $230,000 estimated last year. This means that, if this couple were retiring on a $75,000 annual household income, medical expenses would take up 61 percent of their annual Social Security benefits by 2027.

NEW RESEARCH

EPI Report: Can workers offset Social Security cuts by working longer?
May 2012
A new report by Eric Kingson and Monique Morrissey at the Economic Policy Institute finds that raising the retirement age would impose significant hardship on numerous older workers, challenges that are unlikely to be negated by proposed hardship exemptions. The report estimates that 1 in 2 older workers would be at risk of facing hardship as a result of an increase in the retirement age.

CBPP Report: What the 2012 Trustees' Report Shows About Social Security
May 2012
Kathy A. Ruffing analyzes the 2012 Social Security Board of Trustees' report. Ruffing notes that while Social Security does have a relatively modest shortfall, with the Trust Funds expected to expire in 2033, it should not be difficult to carefully craft tax increases and benefit modifications to stabilize the program for the long-term. While Social Security will not face a serious crisis for nearly another two decades, Ruffing strongly urges policymakers to begin the reform process as early as possible.

CEPR Report: The Impact on Inequality of Raising the Social Security Retirement Age
April 2012
Written by David Rosnick and Dean Baker, this report projects that increasing the retirement age from age 67 to age 70, as numerous policy proposals have suggested, would result in an increase in inequality, impacting the less wealthy significantly more than their wealthier counterparts.

CEPR Issue Brief: Who's (Still) Above the Social Security Payroll Tax Cap?
May 2012
In this issue brief, authors Nicole Woo, Janelle Jones, and John Schmitt find that only 5.8 percent of workers would be affected if the Social Security cap were eliminated and just 1.4 percent of workers would be affected if the Social Security payroll tax were applied to earnings greater than $250,000. The share of workers who would be affected by changes to the Social Security cap varies significantly by race/ethnicity, gender, age, and geographic location.

The Urban Institute: Age Disparities in Unemployment and Reemployment During the Great Recession and Recovery
May 2012
An Urban Institute report by Richard Johnson and Barbara Butrica studies age disparities in unemployment and reemployment in recent years, finding that from 2008 to 2011 unemployed workers in their 50s were one-fifth less likely to gain reemployment than workers 25 to 34 years old.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Demystifying Social Security: 2012 Summer Academy for Interns (Seminar I)
July 11, 2012
8:30 am - 4:00pm

Kaiser Family Foundation
Barbara Jordan Conference Center
1330 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005

Join the National Academy of Social Insurance and over 100 interns, students, and young professionals for this free, day-long seminar.