Fix Social Security!

There's a huge debacle over the worth of stay-at-home-parents in our country right now. Ann Romney has been accused of never working a day in her life, and according to our government, this is true! If Ann Romney is divorced right now, she'd better hope for a generous settlement, because she will be getting nothing from Social Security.

The decision to stay at home to care for my children wasn't a decision I could afford to make, but I didn't know that at the time I made it. I was married to a man who could support us and our growing family, and wanted me to stay at home to raise our children. I also wanted to make this choice, feeling that I didn't have my children for someone else to raise.

Also during this time, I signed our tax returns, filing jointly for the tax break I was assured was in our family's best interests by both my husband and our accountant. No one told me that by doing this I would be held 100% responsible for the taxes in the event of a default. It never occurred to me this was a bad thing to do, and I signed.

Well, the divorce and the default happened, and the IRS hounded me for more than a decade until I was finally forced to declare bankruptcy. I am held 100% responsible for the taxes on my ex-husband's income by the IRS, regardless of the fact that it wasn't my earnings. It was only the last two of the 12 years we were married, and the taxes have now been paid.

Enter the Social Security Administration, which says that despite the IRS's interest in collecting from me, since none of that money was earned by me, I'm not entitled to any of the Social Security benefits paid on my behalf during the course of the marriage. This means that if I make it to age 72, I am entitled to nothing from the Social Security Administration for the years I was married to an earner paying Social Security, and raising our children at home. This means I can't afford to retire, ever, because of a choice I didn't know I couldn't afford to make.

The non-earning, stay-at-home parent should be entitled to Social Security benefits based on the Social Security taxes paid by the earning spouse during the marriage.

Women and children are falling into poverty in our society faster than any other groups, and women are most often the stay-at-home parent raising the children. Denying them the Social Security benefits paid on their behalf because of divorce is dishonest, and only hastens the decent.