In September, Michigan Retirement Research Center (MRRC) was awarded its fifth five-year cooperative agreement renewal from the Social Security Administration. MRRC Director and Principle Investigator John Laitner explained that as part of the grant proposal, MRRC agreed to include disability…
Despite the growing number of studies and the increasing availability of detailed data, researchers haven’t developed a consensus on how health affects employment. This is partly explained by the wide variety in datasets (how they are collected, how they measure…
As the U.S. population ages, often in better health than our parents and grandparents, the notion of retirement is starting to evolve, and retirement paths have become as variable as ice cream flavors: One person may partake of the traditional…
June 26 marks the third anniversary of nationwide, legal same-sex marriage. The estimated 4 percent of the U.S. population that is lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) can now benefit from the same legal status as married heterosexuals with all that…
Previous research has found that young people entering the job market during a weak economy face lingering negative effects, earning less than workers who joined the labor market during, for example, a period of low unemployment. Such effects can last…
The Michigan Retirement Research Center held its annual researcher workshop on March 23 and 24, 2018. As in recent years, we used space at the Ross School of Business, at the University of Michigan. This workshop has only plenary sessions…
Reprise for Tax Day: Labor supply and payroll taxes With policymakers proposing payroll tax reform with a view to promote the solvency of Social Security and Medicare, the research community has turned to examining whether changes to payroll taxes alone…
The 2018 Winter Newsletter includes brief summaries of findings from a dozen new MRRC working papers. The projects illustrate two principal themes of our research effort: They make in-depth use of up-to-date data sources to test and quantify our understanding…
In our last exciting episode, Mike and Mary decided to keep working rather than take early retirement at age 62. They realized that they were behind in their retirement savings goals and likely to live longer than average given…
Mary and Mike, known as “M&M” to their friends, turn 62 in 2018 — the earliest age they can retire and claim their Social Security benefits. Mike has worked full-time for 40 years, although he experienced a year of unemployment…