AARP Eye Center
Women voters in Ohio have a message for the presidential candidates: Tell us more about your plans for Social Security.
A lot more.
And I would add one more point: Political leaders should act now to update the program. It’s time to stop kicking the Social Security can down the road.
Those are some highlights from a new AARP survey in Ohio of likely women voters age 50 and up. A few more:
• 73% want the next president and Congress to take immediate action on Social Security. ©iStock.com/Daniel Bendy • A majority of women voters of both major parties say they would be hurt by future benefit cuts, with concerns greatest among those age 50-64. • Only a minority of Ohio women surveyed have heard details of the candidates’ plans for Social Security (31% from Hillary Clinton and 19 % from Donald Trump).
I hope the candidates are listening (and the media, also!). They can give Social Security a bigger role in the presidential campaign, and they should.
Women depend enormously on Social Security. We have a longer life expectancy, so we rely on the benefits for a longer time.
We are more likely than men to leave the work force to raise kids or care for ailing parents. That squeezes our resources for retirement. In old age, we generally have lower savings and less income from pensions – if any at all.
Yet Social Security benefits could be cut by as much as 25 percent starting in 2034, according to the system’s trustees.
That is why volunteers with Take A Stand are urging the presidential candidates to show leadership on this issue. At campaign events in Ohio and other battleground states, Take A Stand volunteers are asking the candidates for details, so people know how they and their loved ones would be affected by any changes.
Voters want answers. And the new AARP survey shows they want them now.
More than two in five women surveyed are not confident that Social Security will be there for them and future generations.
Those numbers should be much higher. Americans – women and men – deserve to feel confident that the program they pay into throughout their working lives will be there for them and future generations.
If you think about it, so many older women urging “immediate” steps to address Social Security is a powerful call to action, an appeal the presidential candidates should take seriously.
Memo to the candidates: When it comes to Social Security, doing nothing is not an option.
For more information, see the overall survey results from likely women voters ages 50+ across 15 battleground states covering their views on the future of Social Security and the presidential candidates.
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