scholarly journals How Effective is Redistribution Under the Social Security Benefit Formula?

10.3386/w7597 ◽  
2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Gustman ◽  
Thomas Steinmeier
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Social Security Benefit ◽  
The Social

scholarly journals IS THE SOCIAL SECURITY CRISIS REALLY AS BAD AS WE THINK?

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 737-776 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shantanu Bagchi
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
General Equilibrium ◽  
Incomplete Markets ◽  
Equilibrium Model ◽  
Social Security Benefit ◽  
Social Security Administration ◽  
Tax Base ◽  
Household Level ◽  
The Social ◽  
Natural Expansion

Because they ignore the household-level and macroeconomic adjustments associated with longevity improvements, the actuarial projections of the Social Security Administration overestimate the Social Security crisis. Using a general-equilibrium model with heterogeneous households and incomplete markets, I show that with these adjustments accounted for, a significantly smaller decline in benefits is needed to balance the Social Security budget. Households respond by delaying retirement and Social Security benefit collection, by working more hours, and by also saving more. In general equilibrium, these effects lead to a natural expansion of Social Security's tax base and generate significant delayed retirement credits, which the actuarial estimates completely overlook.

Redistribution under the Social Security benefit formula at the individual and household levels, 1992 and 2004

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALAN L. GUSTMAN ◽  
THOMAS L. STEINMEIER ◽  
NAHID TABATABAI
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Labor Force Participation ◽  
Social Security Benefit ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Social ◽  
High Earning ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Over Time

AbstractStudies using data from the early 1990s suggested that while the progressive Social Security benefit formula succeeded in redistributing benefits from individuals with high earnings to individuals with low earnings, it was much less successful in redistributing benefits from households with high earnings to households with low earnings. Wives often earned much less than their husbands. As a result, much of the redistribution at the individual level was effectively from high earning husbands to their own lower earning wives. In addition, spouse and survivor benefits accrue disproportionately to women from high income households. Both factors mitigate redistribution at the household level. It has been argued that with the increase in the labor force participation and earnings of women, Social Security now should do a better job of redistributing benefits at the household level. To be sure, when we compare outcomes for a cohort with a household member age 51 to 56 in 1992 with those from a cohort born twelve years later, redistribution at the household level has increased over time. Nevertheless, as of 2004 there still is substantially less redistribution of benefits from high to low earning households than from high to low earning individuals.

scholarly journals Exploring the Social Security Benefit Implications of Same-Sex Marriage

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Pollard ◽  
Italo Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Social Security Benefit ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Same Sex Marriage ◽  
The Social

scholarly journals The Effects of Changes in Women’s Labor Market Attachment on Redistribution Under the Social Security Benefit Formula

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan L. Gustman ◽  
Thomas L. Steinmeier ◽  
Nahid Tabatabai
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Social Security Benefit ◽  
Women's Labor ◽  
The Social

scholarly journals The Effects of Changes in Women's Labor Market Attachment on Redistribution Under the Social Security Benefit Formula

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Gustman ◽  
Thomas Steinmeier ◽  
Nahid Tabatabai
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Social Security Benefit ◽  
Women's Labor ◽  
The Social

scholarly journals How Effective is Redistribution Under the Social Security Benefit Formula?

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan L. Gustman ◽  
Thomas L. Steinmeier
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Social Security Benefit ◽  
The Social

scholarly journals Income and the Utilization of Long-Term Care Services: Evidence from the Social Security Benefit Notch

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gopi Shah Goda ◽  
Ezra Golberstein ◽  
David Grabowski
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Social Security Benefit ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Care Services ◽  
The Social

Income and the utilization of long-term care services: Evidence from the Social Security benefit notch

2011 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 719-729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gopi Shah Goda ◽  
Ezra Golberstein ◽  
David C. Grabowski
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Social Security Benefit ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Care Services ◽  
The Social

scholarly journals How effective is redistribution under the social security benefit formula?

2001 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan L Gustman ◽  
Thomas L Steinmeier
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Social Security Benefit ◽  
The Social

How the COVID-19 pandemic could reduce near-retirees' Social Security benefits

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Andrew G. Biggs
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Disability Insurance ◽  
Economic Downturn ◽  
Social Security Benefit ◽  
Social Security Administration ◽  
Retirement Benefits ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Security Disability ◽  
Social Security Benefits

AbstractA quirk in the Social Security benefit formula interacting with the sharp economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic could cause certain groups of near-retirees to suffer significant and permanent reductions to their Social Security retirement benefits. A sudden decline in the Social Security Administration (SSA)'s measure of economywide average wages in the year a worker turns 60 causes the Social Security benefit formula to devalue all the worker's earnings prior to age 60, resulting in a lower measure of career-average earnings and a lower benefit in retirement. A middle-income worker aged 60 in 2020 could receive an annual Social Security benefit reduction of around 9%, with losses through retirement approaching $46,000. Individuals becoming eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits would be subject to similar reductions in percentage terms. Several methods are discussed to reduce or eliminate the likelihood of similar benefit ‘notches’ occurring in the future.

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