WASHINGTON – In advance of the president’s State of the Union speech tomorrow and travel later this week to promote his Social Security privatization plan, Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (Conn.-3) today called on Congress to recognize the impact Social Security reform will have on women. DeLauro joined the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) to release new data on the impact President Bush’s proposal will have on women and children and introduced a resolution in the U.S. House requesting Congress take these factors into account when considering proposals to reform Social Security.

“Privatization and a reduction in promised benefits would have serious adverse effects on the economic health of women,” said DeLauro. “Privatization efforts are risky for all beneficiaries, but will be especially devastating to women who traditionally earn fewer Social Security benefits than men, yet comprise a greater percentage of the system.”

Women represent 58 percent of all Social Security beneficiaries aged 62 and older and approximately 70 percent of beneficiaries aged 85 and older. Women in Connecticut represent 59 percent of all people 65 and older who rely on Social Security benefits.

Women are also living longer – on average, an additional 20 years compared with 17 years for men.

In the data released by NWLC, widows in DeLauro’s home state of Connecticut would see enormous cuts under the Bush proposal. The typical recipient of a Social Security widow’s benefit in Connecticut receives $942 per month ($11,304 per year). According to the Congressional Budget Office, under Plan 2 of the President’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security, today’s kindergarteners are projected to receive 45 percent less than they are promised under current law, even when the proceeds from their private accounts are included in the total. If such a cut were to take effect currently, the typical Connecticut widow would receive only $518 per month ($6,216 per year), an amount equal to only 72 percent of the poverty line

At the end of 2003, women's average monthly retirement benefit was $798. Men's average benefit was $1,039. Social Security is the only source of retirement income for 29 percent of unmarried elderly women, and accounts for 90 percent of retirement income for 40 percent of unmarried women.

DeLauro’s resolution was introduced with thirty-one Democratic co-sponsors.