EBSA Press Release: Secretary Reich Announces Campaign to Help Women with Retirement [07/30/1996]

For more information call: (202)219-8211
 

Women can help other women shatter the glass ceiling of retirement by joining with the U. S. Labor Department in a new initiative to better prepare women for retirement, Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich told more than 1,000 business and professional women today. He urged them to enlist local organizations in the department's effort to educate women about their pensions and to help disseminate pension information to other women.

Reich distributed the first copies of a pamphlet today--"Women and Pensions: What Women Need to Know and Do,"--to members of the Business and Professional Women/USA, who met in Washington, D.C. The pamphlet is designed to help women evaluate their pension plans and plan for their retirement.

"Despite progress in the area of pay parity," Reich said, "less than half of all working women have pension coverage. The problem of pension inequity, though, is largely a product of women's career patterns and the realities they face in the work world. This pamphlet is a first step toward giving women information to preserve invaluable pension benefits."

The new pamphlet combines basic facts about retirement benefits, identifies sources of additional information and offers practical tips on retirement.

Every woman needs to:

• Find out if her employer has a pension plan and whether she qualifies to participate.
• Find out as much as she can about qualifying for benefits.
• Find out what rights she has to her husband's pension benefits in the event of divorce or legal separation.
• Check on her social security benefits, as she may be entitled to benefits as a spouse, an ex-spouse or a widow.
• Finally, take advantage of other ways to save for retirement, such as the individual retirement accounts, simplified employee pensions or Keogh plans.

"Today's woman faces a multitude of challenges. You can take control of your financial destiny. I hope this information will help you and other women reach real economic security and independence. But, the time to save for retirement is now," said Reich.

For a free copy of the "Women and Pensions" pamphlet, call the publication hotline of the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration at 202/219-9247.