📋 Why Social Security Is Important for Older Women (AARP Article)

[Winter2025VA]

FROM THE ARTICLE.

Conceived when the labor force was overwhelmingly male, the program has evolved over 90 years to serve working women, wives and widows.

By Martha C. White, AARP. Published July 21, 2025.

Nine decades after being signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Social Security has cemented its role as a pillar of retirement security, evolving from a Depression-era program focused on individual — and overwhelmingly male — workers to one designed to provide a financial backstop for families.

This evolution reflects a shift in culture as much as bureaucracy. As the nation’s population and workforce became larger and more diverse, Social Security benefits became broader and more inclusive.

USE THE LINK BELOW TO READ THE ARTICLE.

https://www.aarp.org/social-security/women-and-ssa-benefits/

[GailL1]

Now let’s think about how great this is based on some changes that have also happened in our history.

Nobody is denying that both Spousal Retirement and Survivors Benefits have helped out women over the years and now it may even help men in the same fashion since many women are now the higher earners in a marriage.  GREAT.

But we have long past the time when marriages last a lifetime so now we have DIVORCED Retirement Spousal benefits and DIVORCED Survivors benefits.  So now instead of just one, we have multiple spouses, now both men and women or even same sex marriages and breakups, if they are eligible, getting benefit from the SAME primary holder’s record.

Talk about draining the Trust Fund !

Adding to the list of other benefits - “Child in Care” benefits, Auxilliary benefits for minor children even when (1) of the parents retires early up to the family maximum.  

Now when you get down to the way family are broken up this day and age, it is a real mess - custodial parent - well maybe not anymore - more like some get 50/50 custody - so then ya gotta break up the benefit or account for it in the settlement of divorce.

Really - AARP - we are not in Kansas anymore - we have a new world of mixed up relationships and the Social Security Old Age, Survivors benefits program just has not kept up with the changing tide of these societal changed IMO - We may have one higher earner and then a multitude of different filers all going after the same earned benefit or sharing in it.

Even the minor kids suffer when there are multiple of them from different marriages - changes in a society has to bring changes to the programs that have been developed to help them.  We have not done that for ages - 

The last time payroll tax rates were increased to fund Social Security and Medicare 

was in 1990 - we have fewer workers supporting those on Social Security and it will continue on this way because of technology.  

We are moving backwards - not forward.  

[shamit]

Of course these Divorced Spouses must meet certain requirements.  The biggest being that the marriage lasted at least 10 years.  Also the Divorced Spouse must be 62 years of age to receive benefits.  The divorced spouse needs to 60 (or 50 if disable) for the Divorced Survivor benefits.

[GailL1]

I  did add “if they are eligible”  but that isn’t hard to do - in fact I know several that have 1-2 or more spouses to which they could pick from - I use to know (1) that was married 5X - some here and some abroad - but some did not last 10 years.

Speaking about widows Survivors benefits - the last one in line, meaning the one that one is married to at the time of death - only has to be married to the deceased 9-months before death.  That gives the Divorced widows plenty of room to work in a 10 year one - don’t ya think?

per the SSA - Survivors Benefits 

SSA.gov - Who can get Survivors benefits 

Spouses and ex-spouses

You may be eligible if you: 

• Are age 60 or older, or age 50–59 if you have a disability, and
• Were married for at least 9 months before your spouse's death, and
• Didn’t remarry before age 60 (age 50 if you have a disability).


Ex-spouses who were married for at least 10 years, as well as some valid non-marital legal relationships, may be eligible.



You might be eligible regardless of age and how long you were married. One common example is if you’re caring for a child of the person who died.