WASHINGTON, Aug. 21, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- A new
proposal to use Social Security to provide paid family leave is a
bad deal for families that would undermine Social Security's
financing, warns The Senior Citizens League. The proposal,
introduced by Senator Marco Rubio
(FL) would allow new parents to receive a paid family leave benefit
financed from Social Security, in exchange for postponing future
Social Security retirement benefits. "That would result in reduced
lifetime Social Security income, which would fall the hardest on
women," says Mary Johnson, The
Senior Citizens League's Social Security policy analyst. "The
proposal would take Social Security funds out of the system at the
same time those funds are needed to pay benefits to today's
retirees," Johnson says. "Taking money out of Social Security now
would only hasten Social Security's insolvency date," she says.
Senator Rubio's legislation would allow eligible working parents
to receive a Social Security benefit for at least two months of
paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child, according to his
fact sheet. To pay for the benefit, parents would need to delay the
date they begin receiving Social Security retirement benefits by up
to 6 months per leave. "A woman who has three kids would wait up to
a year and a half longer than she would under current law to get
her retirement benefit," Johnson notes.
"This is a bad deal for women, and one that will exacerbate the
problem of women tending to have lower Social Security benefits
than men," Johnson says. According to Social Security's most recent
annual statistical supplement through December 2016, the average monthly benefit is
about 26 percent higher for male retirees, $1,403 versus $1,117 for women. "Women tend to have lower
paying salaries than men, and may work in part-time jobs," Johnson
notes. "The time away from the job to have children can have an
enormous impact on what women receive in lifetime Social Security
benefits," she says.
When working women have children or care for older family
members, the time out of the workforce can result in "'holes' in
their Social Security earnings record," Johnson says. It can result
in "zeros" in a woman's Social Security earnings history if she is
off the time - clock for an entire year, or it could mean years of
low earnings when part of the year was impacted by family care
giving. Social Security retirement benefits, however, are
calculated on the individual's earnings history.
Social Security uses the 35 years of the highest earnings to
calculate benefits. "Today, more mothers and caregivers are working
past the age of 66 in order to fill in the holes in their work
records with higher earning years," Johnson points out. "This new
family leave proposal does nothing to address this problem, but it
would require women who took the benefit to work longer to pay back
their leave."
"Our nation needs to work together to strengthen families,"
Johnson says. "Babies grow up to be workers, and workers pay into
Social Security, supporting its beneficiaries," she adds. "However,
government - based paid family leave would be a temporary benefit
program that should be separate from Social Security, which
provides long-term benefits for retirement, survivors, and
disability," she explains.
The Senior Citizens League believes that to be fiscally
responsible, paid family leave should not exacerbate Social
Security's funding problems. "If Congress wants to implement such a
program, paid family leave should be funded through a separate,
alternate source of revenue," Johnson says. "Any family leave
program should be designed to provide incentives for employers in
order to prevent transferring corporate responsibility for
employees to U.S. taxpayers." To learn more, visit
http://www.SeniorsLeague.org.
With 1.2 million supporters, The Senior Citizens League is one
of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups. Its mission is
to promote and assist members and supporters, to educate and alert
senior citizens about their rights and freedoms as U.S. Citizens,
and to protect and defend the benefits senior citizens have earned
and paid for. The Senior Citizens League is a proud affiliate of
The Retired Enlisted Association. Visit
http://www.SeniorsLeague.org for more information.
SOURCE The Senior Citizens League