What Price Motherhood? Moms rally to demand Social Security for work as caregivers

The Sunday Star-Ledger (NJ) ^ | 5/11/03 | Peggy O'Crowley

[zip]

to demand a Social Security credit for the years they spend at home raising children.

BS!!! Social Security is NOT A WELFARE HANDOUT. Cradle to grave, leftist, "give me something for nothing" BS. I have nothing but the utmost respect for motherhood and know the sacrifices made by most mothers but SS was never intended to be funded 100% by government as a welfare "entitlement". I am so tired of funding handouts, "earned" income tax credits, and the like. How about working for wages as a national priority???????

[zip]

There is no such thing as an "employer share". An employer is willing to pay 1 dollar to get something done and the employee who does the work gets 85 cents. It's all the employee share.

What law are you reading? Under the SSA, the employer pays half and the worker pays half. How does that equal "employee share" being 100%?

[zip]

Excellent post. Thanks for putting it so concisely and in terms everyone can understand (if they aren't brain dead)

[babygene]

"My husband and children are reward enough."

Sounds good in theory... I have a sister-in-law who had worked 1 guarter short of enough time to be eligible for SS. She raised her 5 kids, got disabled, then got divorced. Unfortunally for her, she can never now get disability, and will only be entitled to SS and Medicare when her X retires.

Puts her in a bad spot, because with a pre-existing condition, she can't get med insurance either... Of course even without the pre-existing condition she wouldn't be able to afford it since she can't work.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

The way I understand it is that in actuality, your employer is paying X number of dollars more, when you count the all of the taxes and benefits that you cost him. So a person making $40,000 is actually seen as a $50,000 employee. Thus, the concept of you paying for the employer's share, because you never actually pocket the $10,000, it is spent for you. You may see yourself as a $40,000 employee, but your employer sees you ask costing him $50,000, for the work that you do. You earn that $10,000, by working. It is your money.

[babygene]

"There is no such thing as an "employer share"."

Staytrue is correct here. The amount of money the employer pays on your behalf if out of the revinue your work has generated. It's part of your total compensation package. As is, insurance, IRA contributions, workman's comp, uninployment etc.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

How is this just a theory? They are reward enough. I am a stay at home mother by choice, because it is the most important job that I could ever do. My earning a paycheck would never be compensation for being at home with my children. I don't know how you could characterize my personal situation like this. I truly believe that they are reward enough... I do not want my taxes to increase, and the government to write me a check, so that I can help add to the burden of social security.

[zip]

I even chose homeschooling because that's better for my child and for society

But why "choose" me to support you? I had nothing to do with your decision. This is absolutely the same thing as Reparations for being black. No difference. It is taking money from workers and redistributing it to non workers.

[JoeSixPack1]

When did motherhood earn the title "caregiver"? Used to called "Parent"

[zip]

I have a sister-in-law who had worked 1 guarter short of enough time to be eligible for SS. She raised her 5 kids, got disabled, then got divorced. Unfortunally for her, she can never now get disability, and will only be entitled to SS and Medicare when her X retires.

Are you saying that her children "have been deprived of parental support" and SS will not assist (or does she not have custody of the children)? I doubt that she went to the SS office and was given that information. She has a great case if what you state is true.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

If you delete the word "parent" from the vocabulary, then it will seem perfectly normal when children born out of wedlock end up being raised by grandparents, or when most children spend more time in daycare than they do their working mothers.

Changing the vocabulary, changes the way you perceive the situation. In the future you won't be able to ask when something goes wrong, "well, where are the parents?", because the sentence, "where are the caregivers?" will actually have the effect of diminishing the responsibility of the caregivers. When was the last time you blamed a child's behavior on Granny or the daycare?

[babygene]

"I don't know how you could characterize my personal situation like this."

Sorry, I wasn't charaxterizing your situation in any way. I was only relating a situation that I am personaly aware of, where a women got burnt real bad by never qualifing for SS. I know, it couldn't happen to you. She would have said the same thing...

Didn't mean to offend you.

[zip]

I iunderstand where you are coming from but I also pay over 400 dollars a month for medical insurance so does my emplyer think that I'm a 54,800 dollar a year employee (50,000 eages and 4800 medical)? Same logic.

[Ima Lurker]

So, do working Moms get two Social Security payments then, the one they earned and the give away? I get so tired of hearing this kind of whining. There is no little fairy who comes in and cleans the toilets, makes the beds and puts supper on the table for women who work outside the home. Every working woman has two jobs whatever her situation.

I think it is wonderful when Moms make the choice to stay home with their kids. I know in most cases it is a financial sacrifice. However, they are your kids not mine and I don't want to pay you to take care of your own kids.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

I accept that your sister-in-law never saw these challenges coming. But, you cannot use a cookie-cutter solution, and apply it to all families. If I accepted your premise that the danger is imminent, and I must watch out for the peril, then I would need to be gainfully employed, earning enough to contribute to SS.

The only difficulty is that because of my husband's job, I would have to work nights, and then... I would have to sleep during the day, putting my daughter in daycare, while my son is in school. This way, I can work, alienate my children, neglect my husband, and rapidly watch my family deteriorate, guaranteeing the demise of my marriage and leading to divorce.

Sounds like a great life. I wonder why I never made those life choices to begin with? I would be much better off.

[babygene]

"Are you saying that her children "have been deprived of parental support" and SS will not assist (or does she not have custody of the children)? I doubt that she went to the SS office and was given that information. She has a great case if what you state is true."

Her youngest child was in college when she divorced, And she has no case.

Not only did she go to the SS office, she hired an lawyer.

The way the eligibility rules work for SS, the number of years you have to work goes up for each quarter of credit earned as you get older. When you are in your 50s, you have to work for 10 years to earn one quarter credit. The reason she can "never" qualify, is that in 10 years she will be 65, and disiability ends at 65 (you go on regular SS at 65).

She will qualify for regulsr SS at 65 because of her X husband's employment...

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Yes, they do! My husband just got a yearly statement from his employer... stating in writing all of the benefits and costs that are part of his employment. What astonished me was to see that they consider him to be costing them $12,000 more than what he earns. I knew it was a high number, but I didn't know it was that high. I never bothered to do the math.

[babygene]

"The only difficulty is that because of my husband's job, I would have to work nights"

Why couldn't your husband hire you to do things around the house, pay you mimiun wage, and pay the income and SS tax on your wayges? You don't have to work for long to qualify when your young. Just a couple of years. The extra taxes you paid would amount to very inexpensive disability insurancs. And your husband could probably take them as a tax deduction...

[zip]

SSI??

[Pan_Yans Wife]

But, if I am working, for my husband, wouldn't we then be subjected to higher taxes, as a two income family?