Pension Deal in $1.1T Budget Bill Hits Retired Women Hard

The $1.1 trillion spending bill signed into law by President Barack Obama on Monday contains a provision allowing trustees of multiemployer pension plans to cut benefits in order to remain solvent.

But those reductions will take a heavy toll on retired women who can least afford it — retirees and surviving spouses who rely on their pensions to purchase necessities like food and medicine, advocates say.

Last month, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp (PBGC) said that 200 multiemployer pension plans, covering 1 million participants, are at risk of failing in the next 10 years.

More