Educate Others - Write a Letter to the Editor

When you see coverage of the Social Security debate in your local paper, copy this letter, insert your own information and fire it off to your local newspaper’s editorial department. You can usually find an email address for letters to the editor either in the print copy of the opinion pages or online.

Dear Editor:

[Insert a reference to a recent article in the paper you are writing to]

While coverage of the debate over the financial stability or instability of Social Security continues, no one talks about the real problem - the fact that our retirement systems are based on sixty-five year old values about men, women, work and money.

Social Security was designed to discourage women from employment, to encourage men to work by linking benefits to income and years worked, and to send a message to women to stay married since their economic security was tied to being a dependent of a wage-earning husband. Sixty-five years later, one result is that we reward mothers, and anyone who gives up earnings in order to care for others, with financial dependency and increased risk of poverty in old age.

It’s time for a new set of values. Men and women ought to be able to share paid work in the way that works best for their families without penalty. Ownership of retirement assets acquired during a marriage should be shared equally by spouses while they are married and after a divorce. Social Security benefits ought to be related not only to paid employment but also to the unpaid work of caring for children, the elderly and the disabled.

Before another 65 years passes, we have to take this opportunity to insist on changes to protect the economic security and personal autonomy of women, mothers and anyone who cares for others. For more information, visit www.mothersandmore.org.

[Name and your title in your chapter. Ex. Jane Smith, Advocacy Chair for Boulder Chapter of Mothers & More]

[Any requirements by the paper. Usually home mailing address, phone and email.]