A Quarterly Newsletter provides updates on current MRRC projects including recent research findings as well as information about upcoming events and information that may be of interest to the academic and policy communities. Join our mailing list for this publication.
Policy Briefs offer summary and analysis of current issues in Social Security, retirement and pension policy.
Working Papers provide rapid dissemination of MRRC research findings. Many working papers are later published in journals and books. Bound copies of working papers are available on request.
Research Briefs offer concise summaries of key research findings from MRRC projects.
In the Researcher Q&A series our affiliated researchers discuss the findings and implications of their MRRC-supported research.
Conference Papers from the Annual Meeting of the Retirement Research Consortium are available for all presentations.
All MRRC publications may be printed directly from this website.
All Publications
2022
Explanations for the Decline in Spending at Older Ages
WP 2022-440 , UM21-10
We use new data from the 2019 wave of the Consumption and Activities Mail Survey to help interpret the observed decline in spending as individuals age. At one extreme, forward-looking individuals optimally chose the decline; at the other, myopic individuals…
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How Redistributive Are Public Health Care Schemes? Evidence from Medicare and Medicaid in Old Age
WP 2022-441 , UM20-10
Most health care for the U.S. population 65 and older is publicly provided through Medicare and Medicaid. Despite the massive expenditures of these systems, little is known about how redistributive they are. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study…
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Investigating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Provision of Workplace Accommodations in the U.S.
WP 2022-442 , UM22-15
This study used data from a nationally representative survey that follows people 50 and older over time (the Health and Retirement Study) to test whether the receipt of workplace accommodations by persons with work limitations varies by race/ethnicity. Workplace accommodations…
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The Ongoing Impacts of COVID-19 on Americans’ Economic Security
WP 2022-443 , UM22-17
The COVID-19 pandemic has had enormous effects on the U.S. economy. We use longitudinal survey data from a nationally representative Internet panel, the Understanding America Study, to examine the impacts of the pandemic, and policy responses, on Americans’ financial stability…
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The Redesigned Social Security Statement’s Short-Term Impacts on Near Retirees
WP 2022-444 , UM22-Q3
In October 2021, the Social Security Administration (SSA) implemented a redesigned Social Security Statement for workers scheduled to be sent a paper Statement or checking their my Social Security online accounts. The new statement is half the length of the…
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Understanding Racial Disparities in Financial Preparedness for Retirement
WP 2022-445 , UM22-18
We estimate a model of labor supply and savings over the life cycle where key parameters — including the interest rate, the degree of risk aversion and the fixed cost of working, and the stochastic processes of health, mortality, and…
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The Alignment of Household Preferences and Financial Decisions Leading up to Retirement
WP 2022-446 , UM19-10
We report on research that links survey and administrative data to investigate how within-couple differences in preferences and financial decision-making abilities affect household finances. We study whether within-household differences in preferences or financial decision-making abilities influence household choices and, thus,…
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Gendered Impacts of COVID-19 on Economic and Retirement Security
WP 2022-447 , UM22-08
The COVID-19 pandemic had severe impacts on the U.S. labor market with particularly large effects on working women. We use longitudinal survey data from a nationally representative internet panel to (1) document the pandemic’s gendered effects on employment and short-term…
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The Role of Physical, Cognitive, and Interpersonal Occupational Requirements and Working Conditions on Disability and Retirement
WP 2022-448 , UM22-04
We examine of the role of physical and mental job requirements, as well as hazardous working conditions, on retirement and disability among older individuals in the United States. By linking occupation-level data on job requirements from the Occupational Requirements Survey…
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2021
Public Pension Design and Household Retirement Decisions: A Comparison of the United States and Germany
WP 2021-417 , UM19-13
Social Security provides retirement benefits to age-eligible workers and their spouses. Benefits are permanently increased if initial receipt is delayed. For benefits paid to spouses, these incentives reflect a complex interaction of the worker’s and spouse’s earnings histories, benefit claiming…
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