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THE VOICE OF MIDLIFE
AND OLDER WOMEN

Volume III  

Issue 6

June 2011


 

 

 

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Just In:

Read OWL's Social Security Task Force's statement on "Chained COLAs"

 
















 

Quote of the Month:

 

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it."

 

-Upton Sinclair

 OWL Releases Statement on Wal-Mart v. Dukes Supreme Court Ruling 

 

On June 21st, OWL released a statement calling the United States Supreme Court's ruling in favor of Wal-Mart a major setback for women who seek to challenge gender discrimination in their jobs.  The plaintiffs- a group of women who worked at Wal-Mart stores - claimed that Wal-Mart engaged in company-wide discrimination practices by paying women less than men, promoting fewer women to management positions, and promoting male employees more quickly.  The Court ruled, 5-4, that the plaintiffs could not band together as a class to bring pay and promotion discrimination claims against Wal-Mart.

 

The of outcome of this case placed a roadblock before women everywhere who seek justice and equality in the workplace.

 

Read OWL's full press release. 

 

 OWL Calls for AARP to Oppose Cuts to Social Security

 

On June 17th, the media reported that AARP was open to cuts in Social Security benefits as part of a long-term deal to extend the program's solvency.  Although AARP has since called the report "misleading," OWL has issued a statement urging AARP to oppose any cuts to Social Security.  If AARP is, in fact, willing to support benefit reductions, it would be at odds with most seniors and an overwhelming majority of Americans who adamantly oppose cuts in Social Security and Medicare.

 

OWL opposes cuts in Social Security benefits and instead supports increasing the cap on wages as a means of extending the solvency of the program.  OWL believes that any efforts to strengthen or reform Social Security should be considered separately from debt reduction and should not involve a decrease in benefits.

 

Read OWL's full press release. 

 

What's New at OWL:

  •  Stay up to date with Social Security news by visiting the Social Security Matters' Media page 
  • Did you miss OWL's Mother's Day Briefing? Check out videos of Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee, and OWL President Margaret Hellie Huyck on OWL's website

Share the News,  

Share the Health!

 

Have you heard about Medicare's preventative benefits?  Everyone with Medicare can now get a yearly wellness visit that gives you a chance to talk with your doctor to make sure you are getting the right prescriptions and care.  There are other important preventativebenefits - like recommended cancer screening to help detect disease early, when it's most treatable.  Preventing chronic disease not only improves health and quality of life - it's also a significant step towards reducing the $2 trillion the U.S. spends treating preventable long-term illness today. 

 

And if you're in the donut hole, discounts on brand name prescription drugs to help you stay healthy.  Use your benefits and have peace of mind knowing your are taking good care of your health.

 

Read more at: www.medicare.gov/sharethehealth 

 

 

New Report Shows Women Will be Hit Hardest by Changes to Social Security's Cost-of-Living Adjustment

 

The National Women's Law Center (NWLC) released a new report that shows how deficit reduction proposals to change the way cost of living adjustments (COLAs) are calculated in federal benefit programs-such as Social Security-underestimate the effect of inflation on the elderly and would especially harm women. The proposed switch to a new measure of inflation may appear to be a mere technical adjustment, but this report shows how the change will result in significant cuts to Social Security benefits that deepen over the years and dramatically increase economic insecurity among the elderly-especially women.

 

Since women live longer than men, they face deeper cuts in their Social Security benefits under the proposed new measure of inflation, known as the "chained Consumer Price Index," because the cuts from this reduced COLA get deeper each year. Women rely more on income from Social Security, so these cuts would represent a larger share of their total retirement income. And since older women are already more economically vulnerable than older men, these cuts would leave many of them unable to meet basic needs.

"This proposal is a stealth attack on the economic security of older women," said Joan Entmacher, NWLC Vice-President for Family Economic Security. "That is a shameful way to solve our nation's deficit problem."

 

Read the full report. 

 



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THE VOICE OF MIDLIFE AND OLDER WOMEN
OWL is a 501(c)(3) national grassroots organization founded in 1980 that continues to be the only national membership organization that advocates solely from the perspective of now over 70 million mid-life and older women.

1025 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 701
Washington, DC  20036

Phone: 1-877-OLDRWMN (653-7966)  Fax: 202-833-3472