So President Obama is apparently considering, as part of the fiscal cliff negotiations, to offer cuts to Social Security benefits. These cuts would be likely achieved by “making the Social Security cost of living adjustment formula less generous,” according to TalkingPointsMemo.
That women are not more up in arms about this is quite simply ASTONISHING.
Thanks to the National Women’s Law Center, I’ve been reading a comprehensive overview of women’s relationship to Social Security:
“The average Social Security benefit for women 65 and older is about $12,700 per year.
Social Security is virtually the only source of income for nearly three in ten female beneficiaries 65 and older.
Women rely even more on income from Social Security than men do. Unmarried women rely more on income from Social Security than married women do.
Women live longer than men and as women get older, a larger and larger percentage of their income comes from Social Security.”
As we know, women were a key demographic in the 2012 election. Obama won a second term due in large part to the votes of women. 55% of them as a matter of fact.
So without women, Obama would not have won the election. That he would dare offer up Social Security benefit cuts as part of a grand bargain in these fiscal cliff negotiations is beyond belief.
It is likely the most critical benefit women will ever receive in their lives.
Women need to wake up.
http://www.nwlc.org/resource/women-and-social-security
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/12/social-security-obama-boehner-chained-cpi.php
