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OPA News Release: [03/04/2002] Contact: Kate
Whitman
Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao Emphasizes Women's Need To Save
Retirement Security And Financial Independence Top Priority Of Labor
Department
WASHINGTON- U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today
addressed the National Center for Policy Analysis Women's Agenda Conference at
the National Press Club.
"It's up to us to build the foundation for independence for women's
retirement savings. Our nation's future, as well as our own, depends on it,"
Chao said. "That's why we must protect our retirements, we must take ownership
of what it takes to make our retirement secure. This requires actively
participating in our own retirement planning."
"Women have a historically low rate of retirement savings. Of the 59
million wage and salaried women working in the U.S., less than half-just 47
percent-participated in a pension plan," Chao continued. "The President's plan
will give women new control and confidence about saving strategies, it
encourages employers to give workers access to professional investment
advice-from advisors required to act solely in the interests of the workers
they advise."
Women in the Economy, an initiative within the National Center for
Policy Analysis, calls attention to outdated aspects of institutions begun in
the 1930s and 1940s. The Women in the Economy project identifies the ways in
which women are adversely affected by antiquated institutions and proposes ways
to solve problems by empowering individuals and fostering fairness, as well as
championing individual rights and free enterprise.
The NCPA was established in 1983 as a nonprofit, nonpartisan public
policy research institute. The mission is to seek innovative private-sector
solutions to public policy problems. The NCPA is a research and education
organization operating under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
For more information please go to www.dol.gov
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