Women's Retirement Inequality

Women in sports are beginning to receive pay equal to men's, hooray for them!  Now what about the rest of us?  I can't say I've kept up with this topic, shame on me, because I'm no longer in the workforce.

But it just struck me:  my Social Security benefits are based primarily on my employmet with the US Army and a private firm in Manhattan (all told, 1975-93), where I was doing the same work as my male counterparts.  It was against policy to discuss salaries (for most companies), but I'd bet my last buck that I was the lowest paid Buyer in the group.

Which directly affects my current Social Security benefits.  Probably affects your retirement, too, no matter your job or employer.  

Therefore, shouldn't women's retirements be adjusted to reflect an increased percentage, across the board?  We're all paying the same at the grocery store, aren't we?  Look at the following:

Throughout the 1980s and early '90s, women of all economic levels — poor, middle class and rich — were steadily gaining ground on their male counterparts in the work force. By the mid-'90s, women earned more than 75 cents for every dollar in hourly pay that men did, up from 65 cents just 15 years earlier. *

The gender gap in pay has remained relatively stable in the United States over the past 20 years or so. In 2022, women earned an average of 82% of what men earned, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers. **

It's a slap in the face to think that for the rest of my life I'll be receiving a SIGNIFICANTLY LESSER amount than someone with the same background but anatomically different.  I don't have a partner to help make up the balance.  I think financial reparations for the 'fairer sex' are called for, as long as we're doling out cash for past injustices.

Of course it's impossible to get the men i

n D.C. to agree to that, probably not during my lifetime.  At the moment we need to protect young women from heading for the bathtub with a hanger.  But then how about issuing women some sort of Discount Card for pretty much anything we choose to buy; with discount percentages varying by age?

I was about to suggest 'at 60' until I remembered that ALL women, even 20-yr olds, can use help making up their missing 10-15%.  Uncle Sam approved outrageous pandemic perks, this shouldn't be so hard, especially since it would only affect (half?) the population.  Just a thought, any other suggestions?

I'd LOVE to develop and maintain the energy to contact my local representative, Oprah Winfrey and/or Judy Woodruff.  If you happen to know anyone with influence - or even if you don't - you might SHARE the idea, I know there are social media buttons at the bottom of this post.

Perhaps I'm the last to realize the inequality of our retirement kitties, but as I frequently say,

"I'm so far behind, I think I'm first."

It would be nice to start a movement before my 75% pushes up daisies.

*  The New York Times
** Pew Research Center