Social Security is especially important for women

Nearly 55% of Social Security recipients are women, with the Social Security Administration noting in an online guidebook called “What Every Woman Should Know” that more women work and pay Social Security taxes than at any time in U.S. history. Social Security lifted more than 28.6 million people above the poverty line in 2024, with more than 70% of those women. The average Social Security benefit received by a retired woman older than 65 was slightly more than $1,808 per month, according to the National Women’s Law Center, compared to $2,215 for men (which makes sense given the persistent gender-pay gap). Congressional Republicans have repeatedly said they want to cut Social Security benefits as the program nears insolvency by the early 2030s, though groups across the country are mobilizing to fight that.