Anna McClure, Fellow

Anna McClure is a fellow for Family Economic Security at the National Women's Law Center. Anna is a graduate of The George Washington University and Georgetown University Law Center. At Georgetown, Anna served on the boards of the school's chapters of Law Students for Reproductive Justice, Women's Legal Alliance, and the Equal Justice Foundation. During law school, she focused on civil rights issues at various organizations, including the Institute for Public Representation, National Women's Law Center, AARP Foundation Litigation, Advancement Project, and the National Association of the Deaf. Anna is a Washington, D.C. native and loves dogs.

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My Take

Good News on the Social Security COLA – But It’s Less than First Appears (and Could Get Even Smaller)

Posted by
Anna McClure, Fellow
Joan Entmacher, Vice President for Family Economic Security
| Posted on: October 19, 2011 at 11:26 am

There’s some good news today from the Social Security Administration: After two years of no cost of living adjustment (COLA), there will be a cost of living increase of 3.6 percent for 2012. But because health care costs are rising even faster than overall inflation, the increase is less than it first appears, especially for women.

Medicare premiums are deducted from Social Security, and they’re rising too. The increase in Medicare premiums will eat up much of the increase from the COLA, especially for those with modest benefits, who are disproportionately women. (However, the poorest beneficiaries – also mostly women – will be protected from the increased premiums because Medicaid pays their Medicare premiums.)

Rapid medical inflation also means increased out-of-pocket health costs. Because women face higher out-of-pocket medical costs than men and have lower incomes, rapid medical inflation hurts them even more.

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Tags: Social Security, Super-Committee, Social Security, Social Security & Retirement | Add new comment

Census Reports Increased Poverty Among People with Disabilities

Posted by Anna McClure, Fellow | Posted on: September 15, 2011 at 02:35 pm

If you've been following the blog this week, you know that the Census Bureau just released new data on poverty in the U.S. in 2010. This year, for the first time, data on people with disabilities was included in the Bureau's report. We commend the Census Bureau for making information about this vulnerable population readily available. (But, once again, the Bureau's published report doesn't provide much information specifically about women — so we crunched the numbers for you.)

The numbers for adults with disabilities, and women with disabilities in particular, are grim:

  • The poverty rate for adults with disabilities reached 20.9 percent in 2010, up from 19.5 percent from 2009. But it's even worse for women: 23.2 percent of women with disabilities live in poverty.
  • Adults with disabilities make up a disproportionate share of those living in poverty. In 2010, adults with disabilities made up 19 percent of those in poverty, while making up only 11.7 percent of the population as a whole. Women with disabilities represented 19.5 percent of women living in poverty, but only 12.2 percent of women as a whole.
  • Extreme poverty is also higher among adults with disabilities, and women in particular. 7.2 percent of adults with disabilities, and 7.7 percent of women with disabilities have incomes less than half of the federal poverty level.
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Tags: Data on Poverty & Income, Poverty & Income Support | Add new comment

Op-Ed Makes Great Case for Fair Pay

Posted by Anna McClure, Fellow | Posted on: September 17, 2010 at 11:17 am

Have you read Valerie Jarrett’s op-ed on the Paycheck Fairness Act in today’s Washington Post?

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Tags: Equal Pay and the Wage Gap | Add new comment