House OKs Increase in Aid for Widows

Social Security benefits would be increased for about 120,000 widows and divorced women under legislation passed unanimously Tuesday by the House, although Democrats say millions more women should be helped.

Rep. E. Clay Shaw Jr. (R-Fla.) said the measure represents a first step toward a more comprehensive overhaul of Social Security that improves benefits for a limited but particularly vulnerable part of the elderly population.

“There is more we need to do for women, and we will,” said Shaw, chairman of the House Ways and Means subcommittee on Social Security.

The 418-0 vote sent the bill to the Senate.

Women tend to live longer and earn less than men, and those who work outside the home frequently take time away from work to care for children. Four in 10 depend on Social Security for their retirement income; the poverty rate among widows was 15% in 2000, compared with 8.5% for all elderly recipients.

The changes, which would cost $4 billion over 10 years, would increase the benefit limit for widows whose spouses retire or die before they reach full retirement age. They also would update eligibility requirements for disabled widows and repeal the two-year waiting period for divorced women who remarry to receive benefits.

Democrats favored Shaw’s bill, as did such groups as AARP and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. Yet Democrats also accused Republicans of using the bill for political cover on an issue central to this year’s congressional elections.

“You can just see how afraid they are of debate on that issue,” said House Minority Whip Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco).

Rep. Robert T. Matsui (D-Sacramento) said Republicans blocked Democrats from offering a broader version providing a “widow’s guarantee” that a spouse would receive 75% of a couple’s combined benefits instead of as little as 50% when one died.