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Institute for Women's Policy Research factsheet: Six Key Facts on Women and Social Security
This fact sheet from the Institute for Women's Policy Research provides the most current statistics demonstrating why Social Security is so vital for women's economic security and how proposed changes to the program could adversely impact women.
National Women's Law Center fact sheet: One-Sided Budget Proposals Threaten Women and Families, Shield Millionaires and Corporations
This fact sheet by the National Women's Law Center examines how a global spending cap, especially if written into the Constitution as a Balanced Budget Amendment, would adversely impact programs such as Social Security which millions of people, and women in particular, depend on. After 10 years under the proposed global spending cap, cuts would reach 19 percent across-the-board. If the average women 65 years or older were to see her Social Security benefits slashed by 19 percent, her Social Security check would no longer be enough to keep her out of poverty. Meanwhile, a global spending cap would place no limits of tax cuts, leaving Congress free to enact costly tax breaks for millionaires and corporations.
National Women's Law Center fact sheet: A Balanced Budget Amendment Would Threaten Social Security
This fact sheet by the National Women's Law Center discusses how a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget, even if the amendment did not include a global spending cap, would amount to a "giant raid on the Social Security Trust Fund". Even though Social Security is a self-funded social insurance program, the proposed Balanced Budget Amendment would treat Social Security like any other government program, requiring that spending each year not exceed revenues for that that year. The Social Security Trust Fund has built up a 2.6 trillion surplus in order to pay benefits to the large number of baby boomers entering retirement. But, a Balanced Budget Amendment would not allow this money to be used for this purpose, resulting in benefits cuts.
National Women's Law Center report: Cutting the Social Security COLA by Changing the Way Inflation Is Calculated Would Especially Hurt Women
This report by the National Women's Law Center demonstrates how calculating the cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) using a the Chained-Consumer Price Index would amount to a benefit reduction for all current and future Social Security beneficiaries-and women in particular. The COLA is an adjustment for inflation made to Social Security benefits and is currently calculated using the CP1-W. Switching to the Chained-CPI, as has been proposed, would result in a benefits reduction of 0.3 percent starting at age 62 (regardless of whether one chooses to take early retirement) and would accumulate over time, with those who live until age 95 seeing a 9.2 percent reduction in their benefits. Because women live longer than men, they would be particularly affected by this cut in benefits.
Economic Policy Institute report: Why Spending Caps are Poor Policy: Understanding the Costs and Constraints of Capping Spending As a Share of the Economy
This briefing paper by the Economic Policy Institute examines the impact of the proposed Corker-McCaskill spending cap (also referred to as the CAP Act) for Social Security and other programs. They find that the Corker-McCaskill cap would result in $882 billion dollars in cuts to Social Security over 2013-2021. If Social Security and Medicaid were exempt from the cap, as some have proposed, this would mean even steeper cuts to other programs. Because the global spending cap would limit spending to a fixed percentage of GDP, recessions (such as the recent Great Recession) would trigger even deeper cuts just when Americans need these programs most.
Economic Policy Institute policy memo: Unbalanced Budgeting: Federal Spending Cap May Endanger Social Security
This policy memo by the Economic Policy Institute demonstrates that the CAP Act would be disastrous for Social Security, with impacts only getting worse in the long term. By 2045, Social Security would be cut by anywhere from 4 percent to as much as 83.5 percent, depending on other policy factors.
National Academy of Social Insurance brief: Social Security Beneficiaries Face 19% Cut; New Revenue Can Restore Balance
This brief by the National Academy of Social Insurance explains how changes to Social Security made in 1983 in order to prevent a projected financing shortfall resulted in benefits that are now 19 percent lower than they would have been otherwise. As Social Security now faces another shortfall, it is important to look at solutions other than further cutting already reduced benefits. The brief argues that improving benefits and increasing revenues is affordable, popular with the public, and can close Social Security's long-term financing shortfall without further benefit cuts.
Institute for Women's Policy Research report: Pension Crediting For Caregivers: Policies in Finland, France, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan
This report looks at pension crediting for caregivers, credits awarded to people during times of unpaid caregiving work when little or no other pension contributions are made. It compares pension crediting for caregivers in seven countries to analyze how such use of crediting could achieve various policy goals.
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