Q&A: Rep. Mike Honda on Equal Pay and Social Security for APA Women & Families

How will proposed changes to Social Security affect us?

Interview by Elena Ong, IMDiversity Special Contributor

IMDiversity recently asked Special Contributor Elena Ong to analyze the potential impact of Social Security proposals on APA communities.

To address this question, Ong interviewed U.S. Representative Mike Honda (D-CA-15th CD), Chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and First Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee about the current plan, and the proposed plan, and what effect that would have on APAs.   

Ong's analysis and a sidebar of background of information follows the Q&A.

Q: Congressman Honda, as an Asian Pacific American male, why is Equal Pay important to you?

A: It’s amazing to me that, in the 42 years since President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law, women today still receive fewer wages than men for the same work.

I first became aware of this gross inequity when I was a San Jose City Council, and I have been working to resolve pay disparities ever since.

It’s worth noting that Asian American and Pacific Islander women currently earn approximately 80 percent of what men earn.

Equal pay isn’t just a women’s issue; when women get equal pay, their family incomes rise and the whole family benefits.

My own mother always taught me that fairness was a family value – I think equal pay is about fairness for everyone.”

Q: Congressman, why should Asian American and Pacific Islanders take a position on Social Security policy?  Why?  What’s at stake?

A: Social Security is most definitely an Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) issue.

AAPI families lose when Social Security is privatized.

Currently, more than 785,000 AAPI seniors receive Social Security benefits.

In the next half-century, the number of AAPIs in this country expected to triple within the next half-century, Social

Security will guarantee social insurance benefits to an increasing number of AAPI seniors.

My own mother, who is 88 years old, has worked all her life.  She worked in the fields, and was later a domestic worker taking care of other people’s homes, but none of these positions offered a pension plan.  My mother relies on her monthly Social Security check to maintain her financial independence, something that gives her great comfort and pride in her golden years. Of course she could rely on her children if she had to, but being able to spend her own money allows her the dignity she deserves as she enjoys her retirement after a lifetime of hard work.  Like 90 percent of widows in this country, she depends on Social Security, along with a small pension as my father’s survivor, for 90% of her income. That monthly income is guaranteed under the current system, and she can rely on it being there the rest of her life.

For women like my mother, and for those disabled or suffering the ordeals of family tragedy, Social Security is a constant that provides financial certainty and personal dignity.

Social security needs a solid source of funding, not a plan than makes the problem worse by draining trillions of dollars away from Social Security.  Social security is generational promise to honor our parents and Americans who have paid into Social Security for years, and we need to fight to protect and secure these benefits. 

Q:  Congressman, where can people find out more about AAPIs and Social Security?

A: Visit www.house.honda.gov.  This site includes navigation to the CAPAC web site, and an interactive Social Security rate calculator to determine what you would receive from Social Security under the current Social Security Plan vs. the President’s Privatization Plan. Or visit www.house.democrats.org.  This site includes facts about APAs and Social Security.

Analysis by Elena Ong

Should Social Security be privatized or strengthened? 

To determine this depends on your perspective given a series of questions:

Is it fair that Motherhood is the single greatest risk factor for poverty in old age? 

Is it fair that our mothers not retire with dignity? 

Is it fair that privatization would take trillions from Social Security, endangering the benefits of current retirees and the disabled, while cutting benefits by more than 40% for future generations and saddling our children with $4.9 trillion debt in the first 20 years?

The reality is, AAPIs are at risk, and AAPI women are at more at risk because of unequal pay, and that is why it is very important for AAPIs to take a stand on Social Security.

The privatization proposal hurts everyone, but Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) are particularly at risk.

The current proposal will cut guaranteed Social Security benefits to all Americans by more than 40 percent in the coming decades and drains trillions of dollars away from Social Security. More than 785,000 AAPIs receive Social Security benefits, and approximately 30 percent of AAPI seniors rely on Social Security for all of their income, compared to 17 percent for all seniors. In 2001, the average monthly benefit for Asian Americans was $716.

Because of unequal pay, AAPI women experience even more risk than AAPI men. 

According to Congressmember Honda's statement on Equal Pay Day 2005, women's earnings were $30,724, compared to $40,668 for men. For women of color, the story of median earnings is even bleaker: African American women earned 66 percent of men’s earnings in 2003, while Asian Pacific American women earned 80 percent of men’s earnings. Nationwide, working families lose $200 billion of income annually to this gender wage gap. Equal pay isn’t just a women’s issue; when women get equal pay, their family incomes rise and the whole family benefits.  Equal pay is about fairness for all. 

But when AAPI women wage earners receive 80% of what men receive, AAPI women have 20% less than men to invest in their retirement accounts, which is why AAPI women have an even greater stake Social Security.   In 2002, the average monthly benefit for AAPI men receiving retired worker benefits was $831, and for AAPI women it was 31% less, or $570.  AAPI women live longer than most men and women, and with less than men to retire on in the private accounts, they rely on Social Security's survivor benefits.

Some hope that women can escape unequal pay by becoming entrepreneurs, but reality is that earnings gap is even greater for women entrepreneurs.  In 2004, AAPI women can proudly say that 6% of all privately-held firms were owned by AAPI women (419,793 privately-held firms, employing nearly 544,000 people and generating $69.7 billion in sales).  What is unfortunate, however, is that female entrepreneurs make 53% of what male entrepreneurs make, and have 47% less than male entrepreneurs to invest in their retirement accounts.

Bottom line, Social Security was intended to provide a source of income so the aged, disabled and survivors, could live with dignity. 

If you feel as I do that Social Security should be strengthened and not privatized, consider writing a letter to your Congressmember and to the President letting them know your views.

Write your Congressmember at the YWCA Web Site: http://www.ywca.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=djISI6PIKpG&b=281411  This site provides a convenient way to e-mail your Congressmember re: your position on Social Security. 

If you prefer to send a pre-printed postcard, please visit:  http://www.womensorganizations.org/pages.cfm?ID=203