Phyllis Schlafly understood the important fact that fiscal and social policy are absolutely intertwined she wrote the June 1979 Phyllis Schlafly Report titled “Changing Social Security to Hurt the Homemaker.” In this insightful article, she explained and exposed another feminist plot to exterminate the full-time homemaker from American normalcy.
In June of 1979, the since-defunct Department of Housing, Education, and Welfare (HEW) released a 323-page document in which they called for a change in the Social Security system to punish homemakers for being homemakers. In it, they proposed three different plans, all of which would force single-income families to pay more taxes to the tune of $1,000 annually during their working years or receive up to $100 less per month when drawing social security. The HEW plan would have forced many homemakers to take on employment outside the home simply to avoid the added taxes.
The real question is how feminists felt they could convince women that this proposal was in their best interest when it clearly was not. To win favor for their side, feminists said that women should be earning social security benefits “in their own right” without dependence on men. They painted this proposal as an opportunity for women to leave their homes and do something supposedly more fulfilling. Women who did not want to do this, of course, would have no opportunity for dissent. This is another classic example of feminists trying to box all women into their vision of what a woman should be. No woman should be forced to pay a “dignity tax” for doing work that feminists consider to be less dignified.
Despite what they claim, the radical feminists of the 1970s were never in favor of helping women or giving women new opportunities and choices. Like Phyllis Schlafly, we should remember that from national defense to immigration to tax policy, everything has an impact on the family. That’s why Phyllis took on so many tough issues. She was a successful defender of the family on every front. Conservatives should not forget that the war for the family is being fought on multiple fronts.
