The views in this paper are the authors’ only and do not reflect the views of any government agency or research organization. The authors had equal responsibility for this paper. The order of listing was determined by a flip of a coin.

It is well known that women's social security benefits are lower than men's benefits. The difference reflects the lower lifetime earnings of women rather than any difference in treatment of men and women by program regulations. Part of the difference reflects zero or reduced earnings in years when women drop out of the labor force to take care of young children or disabled relatives. Some advocates think society should not penalize women who perform unpaid work in the home raising children by giving them lower social security benefits. Some believe that removing the effect of dropping out to care for children is a good policy to reduce poverty among older women. In 1990, 15.4 percent of women 65 and over were below the poverty line.