Social Security and elderly labor supply: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 676-686 ◽  
Author(s):  
James P. Vere
Author(s):  
Gabor Kezdi ◽  
Margaret Lay ◽  
David Weir

We document changes in wealth inequality across American households with a member aged 55 or older, comparing data in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) with that in the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) between 1998 and 2016. We examine net wealth including housing, financial and nonfinancial assets and debt, without the cash value of insurances, DB pensions or Social Security wealth. We find very similar distributions of net wealth in the two surveys between the 25th and 90th percentiles, but substantially higher wealth in the SCF at the top of the distribution. Both surveys show an increase in wealth inequality between 1998 and 2016, first mostly due to increased wealth at the top, and, after 2012, due to an increase in the share of households with very little wealth as well. Both surveys agree that wealth inequality by education and race, already substantial in 1998, increased further by 2016.


2007 ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Keith A. Bender

Income replacement after retirement is an increasingly important economic policy area of social concern. This study examines three different measures of replacement income, including the effect of taxes on the estimated replacement rates of new retirees in the Health and Retirement Study. An analysis of replacement rates on average and in different parts of the distribution shows that married, older, and voluntary retirees have the highest replacement rates and that income from pensions and Social Security still form the majority of retirement income replacement.


2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajin Lee

This article argues that wealth uncertainty influences when couples choose to retire. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, I show that wives delay retirement when their husbands retire following a job loss. This effect is stronger when husbands are the primary earners, and couples are relatively poorer. This provides evidence of intra-household insurance that mitigates the impact of an unexpected earnings shock. I find that wives tend to delay retirement only until they become eligible for social security. This suggests that social security benefits can relax households’ budget constraints and allow wives to join their husbands in retirement.


2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 555-579
Author(s):  
Laura Blue ◽  
Lakhpreet Gill ◽  
Jessica Faul ◽  
Kevin Bradway ◽  
David Stapleton

Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess how well physiological measures, including biomarkers and genetic indicators, predict receipt of Social Security Administration (SSA) disability benefits among U.S. adults aged 51 to 65 years. Method: We used data from the 2006 to 2012 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), linked to SSA administrative data. Using logistic regression, we predicted benefit receipt (either Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income) using 19 distinct physiological markers, adjusting for age, sex, race, and select medication use. We then calculated the propensity (i.e., predicted probability) that each HRS respondent received benefits and assessed how well propensity score–based classifications could identify beneficiaries and nonbeneficiaries. Results: Thirteen percent of respondents received benefits. Using the propensity score cut point that maximized the sum of sensitivity and specificity, the model correctly predicted 75.9% of beneficiaries and 73.5% of nonbeneficiaries. Discussion: Physiological measures have moderate power to predict SSA disability benefit receipt.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 485-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
JEFFREY DIEBOLD ◽  
JEREMY MOULTON ◽  
JOHN SCOTT

AbstractSocial Security provides survivor benefits to lower-earning spouses of deceased workers entitled to a retirement benefit. The value of the survivor benefit depends on a number of factors including the deceased worker's claim age. We use the Health and Retirement Study and a discrete time hazard model to analyze how the claim age of married men influences the likelihood that their spouse will enter poverty in widowhood. We find that delayed claiming is associated with reduction in a widow's poverty risk. The magnitude of this relationship varies significantly with the claim age, Social Security dependence, and survivor benefit dependence.


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