Studies show that retired women are more dependent on Social Security payments than are men. Regardless of whether they are single, married, divorced or widowed, women also would benefit more from privatization of the system, according to a Cato Institute analysis.

• Four out of 10 unmarried women rely on Social Security for 90 percent or more of their retirement income -- compared to 29 percent of unmarried men.

• Under the present system, a woman who has worked for 40 years, earning the national average wage of $22,000, could expect to receive only $975 a month in Social Security payments.

• But if she were allowed to invest 10 percent of her salary in private capital markets, she could earn roughly $2,400 a month.

• A married woman who worked 35 years and earned only $11,000 annually would see her pension rise from $600 a month under Social Security to roughly $1,050 under a privatized system.

At present, women receive lower Social Security benefits than men -- $621 a month versus $810 on average.

Source: Darcy Olsen (Cato Institute), "Closing the Financial Gender Gap," Investor's Business Daily, October 14, 1998.