Social Security Claiming: COVID-19 vs. Great Recession.

The brief’s key findings are:

In early 2020, many thought the COVID crisis – like the Great Recession – might force many workers to claim Social Security early.
But the COVID economy turned out very different, with robust growth in the stock market and substantial unemployment relief.
The analysis compared the relative impacts of the two recessions on early claiming by earnings group and found that:
During COVID, the booming stock market induced early claiming among workers with retirement assets;
while the generous unemployment benefits decreased early claiming for many lower-paid workers.
Overall, the latter effect more than cancelled out the former, so COVID actually led to a slight decline in early claiming.