Equal Pay Day 2009

Equal pay for women is vital, if above all other reasons simply because it is the right thing to do. Women, who do the same work as men, should receive the same compensation. Additionally, unequal pay has a serious affect on women’s ability to be economically secure in retirement. Given that women are usually the ones to jump in and out of the workforce due to care giving responsibilities, they also receive less in Social Security payments once retiring, despite the fact they have earned less already, because of less time in the workforce and unequal pay. Women should not be shortchanged on their income, and thus in retirement, for taking care of their family members who need them.

Even still, women tend to live on average, seven years longer than men and need more financial support in old age to make ends meet. This is another reason equal pay is so important. Though the plight of all retired women struggling to get by would not be solved by equal pay, it would help each of them move closer to economic security. At Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW), the Elder Economic Security Initiative is front and center on the issues regarding elder economic security, and the inequalities of women and the long-term affect this has on retirement. Check out the Single Elder Women Fact Sheet for more information about elder women struggling to get by financially.

You've Lost Your Money, Now What?

Many Americans have lost their retirement savings in the stock market due to the economic downturn and many of them are close to retiring and don’t have much time to recuperate. So what are their best options?

A CNN money expert took a shot at answering this question this week and here are a couple suggestions:

· Maintain a long-term investing strategy: Even though you are approaching retirement, your investing strategy still has to be focused on the long-term. But just because you're a few years from retirement doesn't mean you should be adopting the same investing strategy as someone who is investing money for a down payment on a house he or she plans to buy in a few years. Your money, on the other hand, will likely remain invested good 30 or more years after you leave the workforce.

· Aim for a balance of protection and growth: You want to adopt an asset allocation strategy that balances the need to protect your nest egg from big hits from which it will be difficult to recover with the need for enough growth to help you maintain your standard of living throughout what could be a very long retirement.

What we also need to remember however, is that regardless of what savings approach you decide to take, it does take time. For many elders, they need support right now. The funds dispersed through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, such as the $250 one-time payment and additional training dollars through SCSEP, must be successfully implemented to help those elders’ in need, while they wait for the stock market to rebound. Additionally, it’s important to have a good idea of what it takes to make ends meet in your community. Varying portions of the country differ tremendously in the cost of living, and the Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index provides a county-by county measure for elders.

NYT: Older Workers Need Not Apply

The New York Times asked an almost provocative question on their commentary site this week: “Why do employers shun older workers?” Overwhelming responses forced the site to pick and choose which ones to feature and a few experts put in their two cents, as well.

One perspective not mentioned is that of former blue collar workers unable to work in manual labor after a certain point. For these older workers, extra training is necessary to get them into current skilled positions that are not physically challenging. To help with this dilemma, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is allocating $1 billion from the recovery package in community service grants to help fund training opportunities, and the Senior Community Services Employment Program also will receive additional money to train and employ older workers specifically.

The current workforce culture, in general, is not older-worker friendly and does not provide much schedule flexibility. Older workers are sometimes shunned because of their perceived lack of efficiency and desire for flexible schedules. In reality, older workers perform better than younger workers in a variety of areas, including interpersonal skills and attendance, according to Peter Cappelli, the director of the Center for Human Resources at the Wharton School.

Unemployed older workers, who are not economically secure, now more than ever, need jobs with quality wages because of loss of finances in the economic downturn and the limited time to recuperate. Without the change of the workforce culture, though, it will be difficult to meet the needs of older workers, even when they do get hired.

Connecticut Update!

This week, we are delighted to have a post from Emma Mullen, Research Assistant, of the Connecticut Permanent Commission on the Status of Women, our CT state partner!

Read below to find out what's new with the Connecticut Elder Economic Security Initiative.

Greetings from the Connecticut Initiative!

The Permanent Commission on the Status of Women is very happy to host the Elder Economic Security Initiative for Connecticut. The Initiative clearly intersects with our three priority areas, keeping Connecticut women free from sex discrimination, promoting economic security, and health and well being throughout the lifespan. Our work is dependent upon the strong partnerships we have with WOW, the Connecticut Commission on Aging, and our many dedicated stakeholders who represent a variety of organizations and geographic locations in Connecticut.

Our official launch was just about a month ago, at The Marvin, an innovative congregate housing facility for older adults. We developed a short program and formally released the Connecticut Elder Economic Security Standard Index (Connecticut Index) and Policy Brief. On hand were community members, aging advocates, Marvin residents, local media, as well as four older women who shared their personal stories. They stole the show as they courageously shared their struggles with chronic disease, family care giving, and a lack of available public supports. These women made it impossible to miss that they represent thousands of other Connecticut women whose lives are reflected in the policy brief’s case studies, and that they live by the numbers in the index.

The Marvin is home to an all day childcare program and an accredited school readiness program. This intergenerational programming greatly benefits both parties. To recognize the relationship between children and older adults, and their needs in a community is to recognize the need for economic security throughout a lifespan. Retirement security can begin with education and continue through career and mid-life as women experience the cumulative effects of the wage gap – where women earn only 77 cents for each dollar earned by their male counterparts.

Moving forward we are creating materials for a variety of audiences and ages.

· We have developed a bookmark for consumers with specific phone numbers to call for help and more information about income supports.
· We have developed a board game, to educate younger individuals about retirement income needs and to connect consumers to resources in a bright and colorful way.
· We also want to provide new caregivers with resources, thereby targeting mid-life and younger women -- to demonstrate the importance of future planning.

If you have any questions about the initiative in Connecticut, do not hesitate to call Emma Mullen at (860) 240-5291, or email me at Emma.Mullen@cga.ct.gov. We are happy to give presentations on Connecticut findings.

What’s New with MinnEESI

This week, we are delighted to have a post from Marie Nelson, Project Coordinator of the Minnesota Elder Economic Security Initiative at the Minnesota Women's Consortium. Read below to find out what's new with our Minnesota state partner!

The Minnesota Elder Economic Security Initiative (MinnEESI) is working hard to take advantage of a very successful launch. Our February 10, 2009 launch resulted in widespread media coverage and enthusiastic support from Minnesota-based aging experts and organizations.

It’s important to keep the momentum going and MinnEESI is developing new tools and programs to keep the Minnesota Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index (Minnesota Elder Index) in the spotlight. We are gearing up for a number of presentations that will take place over the next five months for audiences in government, academic, metro and greater Minnesota. Prior to the launch, we worked to develop a coalition of support in the aging community and continue to do so through endorsement requests.

MinnEESI is carefully tracking legislative work on elder issues, particularly on action regarding the renter’s credit and the Communities for a Lifetime Bill. We are in the process of creating an easy-to-use summary of Minnesota Elder Index. This document will allow legislators to easily reference the information for their constituents as well as compare cost of living across Minnesota’s 87 counties. This document will be available shortly.

MinnEESI will continue to increase media presence by writing editorials and sample newsletter articles to elder organizations. In turn, MinnEESI will collect stories reflecting the experiences of elders and caregivers. Our outreach will further develop as we create a train-the-trainers curriculum. This curriculum will expand the network of those who understand the Minnesota Elder Index as a tool for use in venues such as retirement planning, legislative work or financial education. These trainers can then assist new immigrants in understanding the cost of living, high school students in fundamental retirement planning or in helping elders determine if they are ready to retire.

To contact MinnEESI or receive our weekly e-newsletter email Project Coordinator Marie Nelson at eesi@mnwomen.org or call the Minnesota Women’s Consortium at 651-228-0338. Stay up to date on the MinnEESI blog.

The Importance of Women and Work

"Over the next few days, Fem2.0 is working with MomsRising to start a fresh conversation about what should be considered "work" in the 21st Century economy, especially pertinent for women designing their own work patterns to accommodate their families. What is work? What kind of work has value?"

Here are our thoughts here at WOW…

Work ought to be adequately and fairly compensated, regardless of where it’s performed, at home or in workplace, or the worker’s gender, woman or man. For over forty years, Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) has led multiple efforts to assure women have quality jobs that pay dignified wages and provide benefits. By training women for nontraditional jobs and careers, such as skilled trades in construction and home repair, we can improve their standard of living through increased wages until equal pay is a reality. We are still in an age where women do equal work but do not receive equal pay. Whether being paid to for a skilled trade or caring for an aging parent, work needs to be compensated, through adequate wages, benefits and credited in retirement systems including Social Security, to assure women’s economic security over the life course.

By in large, women are still highly concentrated in low-wage industries and continue to shoulder a disproportionate share of the uncompensated caregiving to family members, but this does not mean that it is classified as “women’s work”. One important change that needs to occur is the framing of work that women often find themselves in. Instead of labeling what is and isn’t “women’s work” we should focus on both women and men as workers with familial responsibilities. The work both in and outside of the home contribute greatly to the overall societal good and, therefore, should be acknowledged and compensated fairly.

You can share your thoughts about women and work by posting on the Fem 2.0 Blog and by particpating in the Fem 2.0 Twittercast Sunday night, March 29, 10 PM EST -- hashtag #fem2. If you need it, review how to join a Twittercast here.

The A, B, C and D’s of Medicare

This week, members of the Elder Economic Security team attended, “Medicare 101”, an event presented by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Alliance for Health Reform. Here, we were reminded of the intricacies of the Medicare system, and reaffirmed our belief in the importance of this program for elder economic security.

Medicare is divided into 4 parts, and each caters to a specific benefit:

1) Medicare Part A: Hospital Insurance, this benefit is used to pay for inpatient hospital stays and hospice care.

2) Medicare Part B: Supplemental Medical Insurance, this benefit is used to pay for physician services, outpatient care by hospitals, and other services not covered by Part A.

3) Medicare Part C: Medicare Advantage, payment of care available through private plans.

4) Medicare Part D: Prescription Drug Benefit, payment of care available through private plans to cover Rx drug costs.

More can be done to improve the current Medicare system, which by the way currently supports 44 million beneficiaries, such as payment reform. This system is not perfect, and in desperate need of reform so that elders and others supported by the program can make the best choices at minimal cost. It looks to be at the forefront of the healthcare reform debate and we are anxious to see what changes are put forth during this Congressional year.

WOW supports strengthening Medicare becuase even with supplement coverage, the Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index demonstrates that elders continue to experience out-of-pocket expenses (between $250-300 per month) for health care. When in good health, health care is the second largest out of pocket expense for our elders. At WOW, we believe Medicare is a solid foundation on which to build universal affordable and accessible health care for all. That being said, WOW urges policy makers to not forget the struggles of underinsured Medicare beneficiaries when contemplating overall health care reform.