Social Security reform is a women’s issue. Women make up 60 percent of Social Security beneficiaries, and they depend more heavily on Social Security than men do for their income in retirement. Half of the women aged 65 and older would be poor if not for Social Security. For 25 percent of elderly women who live alone, Social Security is their only source of income. (For an explanation of the benefits for women under the current Social Security system, see Table 1.)