Topics on Retirement Saving, Retirement and Health in the Era of Population Aging

Aging population is a worldwide phenomenon. In the United States, as in 2015 about 48 million Americans are over 65 or older, which accounts for 14.9 percent of the total population. And by 2030, one of every five Americans will be over the age of 65. The ramifications of an aging population are serious and potentially large because it challenges the fiscal and macroeconomic stability tasks through increase in government spending on pension, health care and social benefits programs for the elderly such as Social Security and Medicare programs. This dissertation composes of three essays that aim at examining the relationship between government policies and the preparedness for retirement and healthcare aspects of the aging population. In Chapter 1, I examined the effect of federal tax policy in encouraging working classes to save more for their retirement, especially among those who are approaching to be retired. One of the big questions that center the empirical research on retirement and saving is whether the American save enough for their consumption in the post-retirement period. Although the answer is still unsolved due to disagreement over what constitutes adequate saving for retirement. It is of great importance to see how government policies help promote saving for retirement. The second and third Chapters examined the effects of the federal minimum wage expansion to home care workers on employment, and on the utilization and the cost of home care services that become increasingly important for senior and disabled people in the country. In sum, the dissertation provides important evidence on how public policies influenced economic behaviors among the older workers and families, and have critical policy implications in bolstering the financial and healthy well-being of the older Americans.

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