Women's worklives and future social security benefits

More women will earn social security benefits in their own right in the next 30 years than do so at present; their benefits will not necessarily rise in relation to men's benefits. For this to occur, the ratio of women's earnings to men's would have to rise markedly or young women would have to work most of their lives. The earnings ratio has stayed nearly constant, for 25 years at least. In this article, worklives of younger women are estimated from their own early experience plus the completed careers of women now retired. Though their total labor-force activity before retirement age will be greater than that of these older women, the increase will not be sufficient to compensate for the lengthening benefit-computation period. Benefits earned on their own records therefore will not supplant dependent and survivor benefits.