GoMom

Hey fellow working women, listen up!

I’d like to highlight some issues regarding pension and retirement and the effect these can have on working women. Read through the following information and please consider voicing your opinion by taking the Ask a Working Woman survey. Help me and everyone else at Working America and the AFL-CIO out to make this the biggest and most comprehensive Ask a Working Woman survey yet.

Fewer women than men receive pensions when they retire with only 28.5 percent of all women today age 65 and older receiving pension income. http://www.dol.gov/wb/factsheets/qf-olderworkers55...

“I am not eligible for…a pension because I am kept at part time hours. And this kind of part-time drudgery is more and more common. The Wal-Mart version of part time, no benefits work has become standard in more than just big box retail.” – Elizabeth, 2008 Ask a Working Woman survey respondent

Elizabeth’s plight is that of far too many working women today. They work hard their whole lives only to be held back from receiving sustainable benefits because they were relegated to “part-time” status.

Even those women lucky enough to have a pension plan are now dealing with a whole new set of problems. Over the past couple of years some of the nation’s largest companies, such as Stride Rite, IBM and Verizon have introduced major changes to their pension programs. Changes include plan terminations, plan freezes for new and/or current employees, and changes to the formula by which pension benefits are calculated. http://www.pensionrights.org/pubs/facts/company_li...

All of these changes serve to lessen or completely eliminate funds slated to be given to affected retirees.

We all need to stand together and show this nations decision makers that we care not only about our own retirement futures, but also about the present situation of women nearing or of retirement age.

I and everyone else working on the survey truly appreciate every bit of support you give us. Remember, the survey will be up through June 20, and the results will be released on June 25. Take it now!