System cheats working women.

• Position: Social Security - Report from Leanne Abdnor, former member of President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security - Brief Article

Despite changes in the American family during the past 70 years--most dramatically, the sharp increase in the number of working women--Social Security's benefit structure remains designed for the single-earner, 1930s-type family. As a matter of fact, under the current system, it is possible that a working woman will receive the benefits of a nonworking woman. In "Social Security Choices for the 21st-Century Woman," Leanne Abdnor, former member of the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security, argues that giving women more control over their Social Security savings through personal retirement accounts would correct benefit inequities.

Social Security's inability to keep up with the changing role of women in society has resulted in nothing less than a subsidy for single-earner families, observes Abdnor. Furthermore, rising divorce rates leave millions of women without any legal right to Social Security contributions made during their marriages. In light of those well-accounted shortcomings, Abdnor asserts that allowing individuals the choice to keep a portion of...