Insurance Policy and Social Security

Insurance helps women and working families stay afloat. Social Security Disability Insurance helps families stay afloat when a family member experiences a life-changing disability and is no longer able to contribute to the family’s economic security. As women have increasingly become breadwinners themselves, this component of Social Security has become a crucial lifeline for working families. Because of the rise in female labor-force participation, women are now approaching parity with men both in terms of insured status and in terms of benefit recipiency. As recently as 1990, men outnumbered women by a 2-to-1 ratio in the receipt of disabled worker benefits; today, women make up nearly 48 percent of disabled worker beneficiaries. Moreover, disability insurance also provides benefits to more than 2 million spouses and children of disabled workers.