Not only do unmarried women account for a third of households aged 65–69 and two thirds of households aged 85 and older, many court poverty thanks to caregiving interruptions weighing on pay and work records. (Photo: iStock)
While Social Security once did provide better for family caregivers—usually women—via the spousal benefit, that's no longer the case.
According to a new brief from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, not only are fewer women married—either they never wed, or they divorced before the 10 years necessary to qualify for a spousal benefit—their own worker benefit is more likely to be larger, making it less likely that they'd even collect a spousal benefit.
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Marlene Satter
Marlene Y. Satter has worked in and written about the financial industry for decades.
