Women's employment and the Social Security system

The rapid rise in women's labor-force participation and the great increase in diversity of family and household structures raise serious questions about the equity and adequacy of a Social Security system developed primarily to meet the needs of traditional families with male wage earners and female homemakers. This article examines the changes in women's roles in the home and in the labor market, then goes on to consider possible reforms in the Social Security system that might help it to better meet the requirements of this profoundly altered society.