Social security and the retirement and savings behavior of low-income households

TitleSocial security and the retirement and savings behavior of low-income households
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2008
Authorsvan der Klaauw, W, Wolpin, KI
JournalJournal of Economics
Volume145
Issue1-2
Start Page21-42
KeywordsRetirement, Social Security, structural estimation
Abstract

In this paper, we develop and estimate a model of retirement and savings incorporating limited borrowing, stochastic wage offers, health status and survival, social security benefits, Medicare and employer-provided health insurance coverage, and intentional bequests. The model is estimated on a sample of relatively poor households from the first three waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), for whom we would expect social security income to be of particular importance. The estimated model is used to simulate the responses to changes in social security rules, including changes in benefit levels, in the payroll tax, in the social security earnings tax and in early and normal retirement ages. Welfare and budget consequences are estimated.

DOI10.1016/j.jeconom.2008.05.004
Citation Key10912