The Social Security Windfall Elimination and Government Pension Offset Provisions for Public Employees in the Health and Retirement Study

This project will estimate the effects of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) provisions of Social Security on the retirement preparedness of affected workers and their households. These provisions reduce own, spouse and survivor benefits under Social Security of former government employees who worked in jobs not covered by Social Security. The analysis will be based on survey data from the Health and Retirement Study, as well as matched pension, Social Security earnings and W2 data. Implications for retirement wealth and earnings of affected government employees will be examined, as will trends among HRS cohorts.