@article {hou_munnell_sanzenbacher_li_2020,
	title = {Why are US men retiring later?},
	journal = {Journal of Pension Economics and Finance},
	volume = {19},
	year = {2020},
	pages = {442{\textendash}457},
	abstract = {
Over the past two decades, the share of individuals claiming Social Security at the Early Eligibility Age has dropped and the average retirement age has increased. At the same time, Social Security rules have changed substantially, employer-sponsored retirement plans have shifted from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC), health has improved, and mortality has decreased. In theory, all of these changes could lead to a trend toward later claiming. Disentangling the effect of any one change is difficult because they have been occurring simultaneously. This paper uses the Gustman and Steinmeier structural model of retirement timing to investigate which of these changes matter most by simulating their effects on the original cohort (1931{\textendash}1941) of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The predicted behavior is then compared with the actual retirements of the Early Boomer cohort (1948{\textendash}1953) to see how much of the later cohort{\textquoteright}s delayed claiming and retirement can be explained by these changes. The Early Boomer cohort was less likely to be fully retired than the HRS cohort at both age 62 (36.7\% vs. 44.0\%) and age 64 (49.5\% vs. 53.9\%). The model suggests that the shift from DB toward DC plans was the biggest contributor to these declines, followed by better health. Social Security rules and improvements in mortality played smaller roles.},
	keywords = {Pension plans, Retirement Decision, retirement timing, Social Security, structural model},
	doi = {10.1017/S1474747218000331},
	author = {Wenliang Hou and Alicia H. Munnell and Geoffrey T. Sanzenbacher and Yinji Li}
}
@article {RePEc:crr:issbrf:ib2020-4,
	title = {Why Do Late Boomers Have So Little Retirement Wealth?},
	year = {2020},
	institution = {Center for Retirement Research at Boston College },
	type = {Report},
	address = {Boston},
	abstract = {Over the last 40 years, the retirement system has shifted from defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans, primarily 401(k)s and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). This shift has been accompanied by a decline in Social Security benefits relative to pre-retirement earnings as the program{\textquoteright}s Full Retirement Age has moved from 65 to 67. Thus, the expected pattern when examining retirement wealth across cohorts is relatively less wealth from defined benefit plans and Social Security and much more from 401(k)s and IRAs. However, the numbers for the most recent cohort in the Health and Retirement Study {\textendash} the Late Boomers {\textendash} show not only the predicted declines in defined benefit plans and Social Security but also an unexpected drop in 401(k)/IRA assets. This drop is alarming given that Late Boomers, who were ages 51-56 in 2016, would have spent the majority of their careers in a defined contribution world. This brief is a first pass at trying to explain why this younger cohort has less in 401(k)/IRA assets than older cohorts had at the same age and what that means for the future of retirement security. The discussion proceeds as follows. The first section identifies the cohorts that are examined and the calculation of retirement wealth. The second section identifies a turn in the fortunes of Late Boomers during the Great Recession, when a significant share stopped working. But lack of employment does not explain the whole problem, so the third section follows working households and finds that after the Great Recession they had lower earnings, less 401(k) participation, and flat 401(k) balances, ending up well below earlier cohorts. A look at more recent cohorts offers a mixed picture for the future. The final section concludes that the Late Boomers{\textquoteright} low 401(k)/IRA wealth can be explained by particularly high levels of unemployment during the Great Recession and more reliance on lower-paid jobs when they re-entered the labor market. Why they were so hard hit, wh},
	keywords = {Retirement wealth, Social Security},
	url = {https://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IB_20-4.pdf},
	author = {Anqi Chen and Wenliang Hou and Alicia H. Munnell}
}
@article {9615,
	title = {What Factors Explain the Decline in Widows{\textquoteright} Poverty? },
	number = {WP$\#$2018-4},
	year = {2018},
	month = {05/2018},
	pages = {2-21},
	institution = {Center for Retirement Research at Boston College},
	address = {Boston, MA},
	abstract = {One of Social Security{\textquoteright}s objectives is to ensure that vulnerable groups have adequate income in retirement.  Historically, widows have been of particular concern for policymakers due to their high rates of poverty.  However, over the past several decades, their poverty rate has fallen considerably.  If it falls farther, widowhood may warrant lower placement on policymakers{\textquoteright} priority list.  To understand why this decline has occurred and what this means for the future, this project uses the Health and Retirement Study linked to administrative earnings and benefit records.  Specifically, the project focuses on three factors that could explain the decline in widows{\textquoteright} poverty: 1) women{\textquoteright}s rising levels of education; 2) their increased attachment to the labor force; and 3) increasing marital {\textquotedblleft}selection{\textquotedblright} {\textendash} i.e., the notion that while marriage used to be equally distributed, it is becoming less common among those with lower socioeconomic status.  The project explores what share of the decline in poverty can be explained by these factors and also projects the role of these factors in the future.

The paper found that:

The rise in education and labor force participation explain most of the decline in widows{\textquoteright} average poverty rate from 20 percent in 1994 to 13 percent in 2014.So far, marital selection has not been a driving force in the decline in widows{\textquoteright} poverty.The projections suggest that widows{\textquoteright} poverty will continue to fall over the next 15 years.In the future, up to half of this reduction could be explained by the increasing selection of women into marriage.
 
The policy implications of the findings are:

While the projected decline in widows{\textquoteright} poverty may allow policymakers to shift some of their focus to more vulnerable groups, widows will remain poorer than married women.Considering the effect on widows of any change that would bring fiscal balance to the Social Security program will continue to be important.},
	keywords = {Education, Poverty, Social Security, Socioeconomic factors, Widowhood},
	url = {http://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/wp_2018-4.pdf},
	author = {Alicia H. Munnell}
}
@article {10776,
	title = {Why Are U.S. Households Claiming Social Security Later?},
	number = {WP$\#$2017-3},
	year = {2017},
	institution = {Center for Retirement Research at Boston College},
	abstract = {Over the past two decades, the share of individuals claiming Social Security at the Early Eligibility Age has dropped, and the average retirement age has increased.  At the same time, Social Security rules have changed substantially, employer-sponsored retirement plans have shifted from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC), health has improved, and mortality has decreased.  In theory, all of these changes could lead to a trend toward later claiming.  Disentangling the effect of any one change is difficult because they have been occurring simultaneously.  This paper uses the Gustman and Steinmeier structural model of retirement timing to investigate which of these changes matter most by simulating their effects on the original cohort (1931-1941 birth years) of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS).  The predicted behavior is then compared to the actual retirements of the Early Baby Boomer cohort (1948-1953 birth years) to see how much of the later cohort{\textquoteright}s delayed claiming and retirement can be explained by these changes.},
	keywords = {Social Security, Social Security Benefits},
	url = {https://crr.bc.edu/working-papers/why-are-u-s-households-claiming-social-security-later/},
	author = {Wenliang Hou and Alicia H. Munnell and Yinji Li and Geoffrey T. Sanzenbacher}
}
@article {5612,
	title = {Why Do Women Claim Social Security Benefits So Early?},
	year = {2005},
	institution = {Boston College, Center for Retirement Research},
	abstract = {This brief summarizes the incentives facing older women when claiming their Social Security benefits. The analysis shows that single women and married women face very different choices. For most married women, the Social Security benefit structure actually encourages them to grab their benefits as soon as  possible. These incentives reinforce the tendency for wives, who are usually younger, to retire when their husbands do. Early claiming may maximize the wife{\textquoteright}s Social Security  wealth,  but it also encourages them to stop working, creating a loss of earnings and 401(k) savings and extending the period over which they  need support in retirement.},
	keywords = {Adult children, Employment and Labor Force, Social Security, Women and Minorities},
	author = {Alicia H. Munnell and Soto, Mauricio}
}
