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CHN Social Security Update
====================== 1. Tell Congress: Privatization Hurts Children, Women and People with Disabilities
2. Report from the Field on Social Security
1. Tell Congress: Privatization Hurts Children, Women and People with Disabilities Tell Congress to oppose the President's proposal to partially privatize Social Security. The President's Social Security proposal will hurt children, people with disabilities, and widows. Click here to email Congress to demand that Social Security be protected. With our email letter it's easy to make sure your Represenatative and both your Senators know the following facts: When the President's Social Security Commission designed its plan to create private accounts, it assumed that all Social Security benefits -- including those for children, disabled workers, survivors and retirees who do not choose to have a private account -- will be reduced. Under the proposal, benefits would eventually be 46 percent lower than benefits scheduled under the program as it currently exists. To see just how devastating these cuts can be in your state, see the report issued by the National Women's Law Center illustrating how such benefit cuts would affect survivors and people with disabilities in each state. The President's plan hurts children. Over 3 million children receive Social Security benefits as dependents or survivors according to the Social Security Administration. According to the National Academy of Social Insurance, over 5 million children under age 18 receive part of their family income from Social Security; in contrast only around 4 million children receive TANF. Table 1 of the NWLC report shows the number of children receiving Social Security benefits in each state.
The President's plan hurts widows and elderly women. Women live longer on average than men and are more likely to survive their spouse. According to the Social Security Administration, there were over 4.5 million widows and about 40,000 widowers collecting Social Security in December of 2002. The NWLC report, on Table 5, projects the average cut in each state to surviving spouses' benefits under the proposal favored by the President. For example, in Ohio, the average benefit for a widow or widower would decrease from just over $900 to about $500.
The President's plan hurts workers who become disabled. Workers who must leave employment because of a disability and their families will face two benefit reductions. The first is simply the reduction that applies to all Social Security beneficiaries and which can eventually be as great as 46 percent of benefits. Workers with disabilities face a second hardship in that they have fewer earnings to contribute to their private account under the President's proposal. Table 4 in the NWLC report shows how many beneficiaries of each type of benefit, including disability benefits, reside in each state.
Social Security offers more than a retirement program based on private accounts. First, Social Security provides more than just retirement benefits. When a worker becomes disabled or dies, Social Security protects the entire family from poverty. Second, Social Security provides a guarantee of benefits that the stock market cannot offer. The President's plan would roll back this guarantee for all beneficiaries, including retirees.
Email your Representative and Senators by clicking here.
2. Report from the Field on Social Security During the week of March 14-March 18 twenty three state organizations that are affiliates of USAction banded together to voice opposition to the President's plan to privatize social security. The 23 groups joined forces with the national campaign, Americans United to Protect Social Security. The organizations held a total of 27 press conferences, all but two of which were held on Wednesday, March 16. Press conferences were held in 19 states, including in Arizona, where radio personality Al Franken joined the Arizona Leadership Institute (ALI) to speak out against the President's plan. See Coverage:
Social Security defenders rally (IL Beacon News)
Groups band together to oppose Social Security changes (ND Grand Forks Herald)
Coalition to oppose private accounts (MO Kansas City Star). => Back to Social Security Main Page | 
