Social Security

Project

2024

Application Decision-making for SSI for Children: A Qualitative Study with Beneficiary and Nonbeneficiary Families

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program of the Social Security Administration provides an important safety net to families of children with severe disabilities who meet specific income and asset criteria. Yet the number of children served by the program has...

Authors: Lila Rabinovich, Tabasa Ozawa,

Project

2024

Community-engaged Research into the Barriers and Communication Preferences of Rural Populations

This qualitative research project will use in-depth interviews of rural residents to understand: a) service-related barriers to seeking government benefits in rural areas and communication preferences among rural residents; b) how service-related barriers and...

Authors: Debra Brucker, Megan Henly, Andrew J. Houtenville, Kelly Nye-Lengerman,

Project

2023

Barriers and Communications Preferences of Rural Populations: A Scoping Review

This scoping review of the literature on communications and service-related barriers faced by individuals living in rural areas when seeking government benefits will examine the current research on this topic and identify differences by sociodemographic groups within...

Authors: Megan Henly, Debra Brucker, Andrew J. Houtenville, Kelly Nye-Lengerman,

Project

2023

Mixed-method Study on Information, Communications, and Access to Government Benefit among Rural Populations

Federal and state benefits provide essential assistance to reduce urban-rural inequities and indirectly contribute to the rural economy. Yet, while participation in benefits programs is higher among rural than urban residents, gaps remain in benefit access in rural...

Authors: Lila Rabinovich, Francisco Perez-Arce,

Project

2023

Equity Implications of the Rising Full Retirement Age and Social Security Communications: An Analysis of Past and Future Disparities in the Economic Security of Retirees

The Social Security Amendments of 1983 raised the Full Retirement Age (FRA), the age at which claimants receive an unreduced monthly benefit, from 65 to 67. However, this change was set to be gradually implemented, with the first increase from 65 to 66 phased-in...

Authors: Philip Armour, Avery Calkins,

Project

2023

The Lifetime Earnings Effects of the Social Security Student Benefit

In 1981, Congress voted to eliminate the “student benefit” of Social Security, which allowed for the continuation of child benefits past the age of 18 for those enrolled in schooling full-time. We compare the lifetime earnings of eligible children who turned 18 just...

Authors: Kathryn Edwards, Melanie A. Zaber,

Project

2023

Social Security’s Role in Economic Security: Evidence and Insight from an Analysis of Multiprogram Participation

We estimate individual participation in 18 separate spending programs and construct measures of nonparticipation and density of participation (which we call multiprogram participation) by age, race, ethnicity, and gender groups. We then use regression analysis to...

Authors: Jessie Coe, Kathryn Edwards,

Project

2023

How Redistributive Is the U.S Social Security System Today?

This project will quantify the extent of current redistribution within the United States Social Security program, incorporating mortality, marriage, and claiming age differentials by minority status, lifetime earnings, and marital status.

Authors: Leora Friedberg, Irena Dushi, Anthony Webb,

Project

2022

How Does Social Security Affect the Racial Wealth Gap?

The literature on the United States’ wealth inequality has three major shortcomings. First, the literature is focused on wealth concentration at the very top, ignoring differentials across most of the wealth distribution. Second, the literature mostly ignores the...

Authors: John Sabelhaus,

Project

2022

Gendered Impacts of COVID-19 on Economic and Retirement Security

The COVID-19 pandemic has had enormous effects on the United States labor market, disproportionately affecting women’s careers. In this project, we will use survey data collected before and during the pandemic to (1) analyze the impacts of the pandemic and associated...

Authors: Jeremy Burke, María Prados,

Project

2022

The Effect of COVID-19 on Expected and Actual Labor Supply and Social Security Claiming Among Older Workers

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the working conditions of many U.S. workers. Some lost their jobs either temporarily or permanently, others switched to telework, while essential workers continued working on-site at the risk of becoming infected with the virus. The...

Authors: Michael Hurd, Péter Hudomiet, Susann Rohwedder,

Project

2022

Nontraditional Work, Nontraditional Workers, and the Implications for Social Security

We use six panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation to measure the short- and long-term financial security of individuals who have earnings from nontraditional work, such as side self-employment, side business, and platform-based earnings (i.e., Uber)....

Authors: Kathryn Edwards,

Project

2022

How Will COVID-19 Excess Mortality Affect Social Security Benefit Payouts?

This project will estimate the impact of excess mortality resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic on projected Social Security benefits and elderly income. COVID-19 mortality is higher at older ages and highest among those with pre-existing health conditions, so some...

Authors: Leora Friedberg, Anthony Webb, Irena Dushi,

Project

2022

Retirement Pensions and Disability Insurance for the 21st Century

This project will estimate the degree of disability risk among the older than 50 population in the United States and England, and evaluate joint reforms of disability insurance and retirement pension programs in a dynamic model of labor supply, social security...

Authors: Tom Zawisza,

Project

2021

Mixed-methods Analysis of Consumer Fraud Reports of the Social Security Impostor Scam

Despite the growing prevalence of Social Security impostor scams, there has been no academic research on this subtype of fraud. One problem is that general sample surveys do not ask respondents about the individual subtypes of government impostor scams they may have...

Authors: Marguerite DeLiema,

Project

2021

Which Households Benefit from Delayed Claiming?

Using administrative data, this project will quantify the incentive effects and equity of the Social Security survivor benefit. The project will first analyze incentive effects on the timing of initial claiming of retired-worker benefits by both spouses. The survivor...

Authors: Leora Friedberg, Anthony Webb, Irena Dushi,

Project

2020

Is the Adjustment of Benefits Actuarially Fair?

Adjustments to benefits for individuals who delay claiming are designed to reward work and ensure equitable treatment between those who delay and those who claim early. Over the past 20 years, Social Security claiming ages have increased and become more dispersed....

Authors: Leora Friedberg, Anthony Webb,

Project

2019

Understanding Retirement Plan Default Behavior: The Case of OregonSaves

Insuring retirement security is an important challenge for our aging society. Accordingly, policymakers are interested in a range of policies to help individuals save more for retirement on their own. One reform currently being tested is for specific states to provide...

Authors: John Chalmers, Olivia S. Mitchell, Jonathan Reuter, Geoffrey T. Sanzenbacher, Mingli Zhong,

Project

2019

Forecasting Survival by Socioeconomic Status and Implications for Social Security Benefits

Both wealth and mortality inequality have increased, which will lead to greater aggregate Social Security payouts because individuals with greater annual benefits will live longer. An important question is whether the trend in mortality inequality will continue. We...

Authors: Péter Hudomiet, Michael Hurd, Susann Rohwedder,

Project

2019

How Would 401(k) Rothification Influence Consumption, Saving, and Social Security Claiming Behavior?

The US incentivizes retirement saving in 401(k) and similar retirement accounts by permitting workers to defer taxes on contributions; taxes are then levied only when retirees withdraw their funds. Yet the Treasury foregoes over $100B/year due to tax-deferred...

Authors: Olivia S. Mitchell, Raimond H. Maurer,

Project Category: Social Security

Application Decision-making for SSI for Children: A Qualitative Study with Beneficiary and Nonbeneficiary Families

Community-engaged Research into the Barriers and Communication Preferences of Rural Populations

Barriers and Communications Preferences of Rural Populations: A Scoping Review

Mixed-method Study on Information, Communications, and Access to Government Benefit among Rural Populations

Equity Implications of the Rising Full Retirement Age and Social Security Communications: An Analysis of Past and Future Disparities in the Economic Security of Retirees

The Lifetime Earnings Effects of the Social Security Student Benefit

Social Security’s Role in Economic Security: Evidence and Insight from an Analysis of Multiprogram Participation

How Redistributive Is the U.S Social Security System Today?

How Does Social Security Affect the Racial Wealth Gap?

Gendered Impacts of COVID-19 on Economic and Retirement Security

The Effect of COVID-19 on Expected and Actual Labor Supply and Social Security Claiming Among Older Workers

Nontraditional Work, Nontraditional Workers, and the Implications for Social Security

How Will COVID-19 Excess Mortality Affect Social Security Benefit Payouts?

Retirement Pensions and Disability Insurance for the 21st Century

Mixed-methods Analysis of Consumer Fraud Reports of the Social Security Impostor Scam

Which Households Benefit from Delayed Claiming?

Is the Adjustment of Benefits Actuarially Fair?

Understanding Retirement Plan Default Behavior: The Case of OregonSaves

Forecasting Survival by Socioeconomic Status and Implications for Social Security Benefits

How Would 401(k) Rothification Influence Consumption, Saving, and Social Security Claiming Behavior?

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