Expanding Social Security Benefits for Financially Vulnerable Populations

Social Security benefits are especially important to populations that experience greater economic insecurity as they age — particularly women, people of color, and same-sex couples. These populations are often disadvantaged both as workers and consumers, which contributes to their increased financial vulnerability in retirement. Social Security, from the beginning, has included features that partially offset the effects of workplace disadvantages. This legacy should be built upon by the enactment of the modest changes proposed in this white paper. This paper outlines five key policy changes that would help to build upon our Social Security system and help to make sure that it functions even better for women, samesex spouses, and low-income people.