More women than men collect Social Security which means many of the negative consequences of the current system come crashing down hardest on the female gender, but the system also creates other inequities that burden women.

In particular, Social Security penalizes married women who work. For instance, if a working woman earns less than her husband, her retirement income is decided by the “dependant spouses benefit.” Instead of collecting a Social Security benefit from her own contributions, her and her husband receive 1.5 times the benefit earned from only the husband’s income. This means that the woman’s Social Security contributions are ignored. Not only can this result in a financial loss for the woman, but it penalizes her for choosing to pursue a career.

Had the woman been able to open a personal account, she could have owned her retirement savings, and she could also have something to pass onto her children.