Social Security and Retirement Timing: Evidence from a National Sample of Teachers / Melinda S. Morrill, John Westall.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Morrill, Melinda S.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Westall, John.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w25411.

NBER working paper series no. w25411

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Social Security and Retirement Timing

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2018.

Summary:

This study documents an important role for Social Security income in workers' retirement timing. About 40 percent of public school teachers are not covered by Social Security. This provides an opportunity to analyze the causal impact of Social Security on retirement timing by comparing covered and non-covered teachers. Using individual-level data from the American Community Survey, we find robust evidence of higher rates of retirement among covered teachers at Social Security eligibility ages. This pattern is confirmed using an alternative regression model of participation in the teacher labor force. These estimates suggest that, should the federal government mandate full inclusion in Social Security for all public sector workers, the retirement timing patterns of newly covered teachers and other public sector workers would likely change.

Notes:

Print version record

December 2018.