Telling the Truth About Social Security

by Cynthia Hess

In December 2010 IWPR launched the Social Security Media Watch Project to monitor, analyze, and respond to inaccurate statements in the media about Social Security. IWPR’s Media Watch examinesarticles, opinion pieces, blogs, and editorials from sources such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Denver Post, and The Kansas City Star. Through blog posts and media charts, Media Watch tracks misleading claims in the news and provides correct information. The blog even comments on riffsby late-night television hosts. Two common misperceptions have been the focus of the Media Watch’s responses: the notion that Social Security contributes to the federal deficit and the idea that the program is in crisis.

In January, two events held in Washington, DC, on older women’s economic security featured IWPR speakers and research. Working with the Older Women’s Economic Security Task Force (OWES)of the National Council for Women’s Organizations (NCWO), IWPR co-hosted a well-attended briefing, “Challenges and Opportunities in the 112th Congress: Women’s EconomicSecurity.” To an audience of Capitol Hill staffers, media, and peers, Dr. Heidi Hartmann spoke about economic growth and the national debt. Leaders from other women’s organizations addressed topics such as Social
Security, health care reform, taxes and the national budget, and equal pay.

Later in January, IWPR released its latest report in the area, Social Security Especially Vital to Women and People of Color, Men Increasingly Reliant, at the National Press Club. Dr. Hartmann presented the key finding, a dramatic increase in the number of Americans relying on Social Security. IWPR was joined by other experts:Dr. Gary Burtless, Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, Brookings Institution; Virginia Reno, Vice President for Income Security, NASI; and, Dr. Maya Rockeymoore, President and CEO, Global Policy Solutions.

“This [report] is a valuable contribution to our knowledge of how many older people, and particularly different population groups among the aged, depend on Social Security,” said Dr. Burtless. “It’s the most important source for the great majority of the elderly. Cutting it would have serious repercussions for the most vulnerable of the aged.”

Social Security Update

IWPR continues to work with OWES to ensure that women’s voices are heard in the budget debates. A letter to President Barack Obama objecting to the lack of women on Vice President Joseph Biden’s budget team resulted in a meeting for women leaders with senior advisors from the White House on June 7. Women leaders made the case for revenue enhancement, job creation, and putting a women’s face on the essential services government provides.