This article explains why partial privatization of Social Security is likely to have an adverse impact on three specific subpopulations: women, minorities, and lower-income workers. It begins by explaining how partial privatization differs fundamentally from the current system. It then explains...

We study the effects of public pension systems on the retirement timing of older workers and, in turn, the health consequences of delaying retirement by those workers. Causal inference relies on a social security reform in Israel that shifted payments from husbands to their (non-working) wives,...

In 2000, in an effort to encourage older individuals to continue to work, Congress removed the Social Security earnings test, which beneficiaries view as a tax on benefits, for beneficiaries who attained the Normal Retirement Age. Previous analysis on the effects of the Social Security earnings...

A number of alternatives to Social Security’s auxiliary benefit system have been proposed in the context of changes in American family and work patterns. This article focuses on one modification therein - lowering the 10-year duration-of-marriage requirement for divorced spouses. Using a...

The labor supply response to critical aspects of the Social Security program depends on whether behavior is "myopic" (conditioned by current benefits only) or "far-sighted" (conditioned by the entire future benefit stream). This behavior reflects attitudes toward risk and ability to borrow, as...

This study estimates the expected benefit from delayed Social Security claiming for higher-earning, healthier women who can expect to receive more future income payments than other Americans. The expected net present value of Social Security payments from delayed claiming for healthy women is...

It is generally accepted that the Social Security program pays women a higher average ratio of lifetime benefits to lifetime taxes than it does men. Social Security's progressive benefit structure and annuity payment combine with women's lower average earnings and longer average life spans to...

This policy brief is designed to raise awareness of the current and future economic circumstances of older women, and the ways in which Social Security reform can help alleviate their unmet needs. It considers the gaps in benefit adequacy and economic security that are not addressed by current...

A 1991 legal change extended the coverage of pensions in rural Brazil to include large numbers of previously uncovered women, conditional on subjective work requirements. This change was accompanied by an increase in female employment, in particular among newly covered women. This paper analyzes...

This article examines how women's increased labor force participation, increased earnings, and reduced marriage rates affect Social Security replacement rates over time. Based on data from the Health and Retirement Study and Modeling Income in the Near Term, our estimates show that Social...