Older Workers' Employment and Social Security Spillovers through the Second Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic / Gopi Shah Goda, Emilie Jackson, Lauren Hersch Nicholas, Sarah Stith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Goda, Gopi Shah.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Jackson, Emilie.

Hersch Nicholas, Lauren.

Stith, Sarah.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w30567.

NBER working paper series no. w30567

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2022.

Summary:

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a large and immediate drop in employment among US workers, along with major expansions of unemployment insurance and work from home. We use Current Population Survey and Social Security application data to study employment among older adults and their participation in disability and retirement insurance programs through the second year of the pandemic. We find ongoing improvements in employment outcomes among older workers in the labor force, along with sustained higher levels in the share no longer in the labor force during this period. Applications for Social Security disability benefits remain depressed, particularly for Supplemental Security Income. In models accounting for the expiration of expanded unemployment insurance, we find some evidence that the loss of these additional financial supports resulted in an increase in disability claiming. Social Security retirement benefit claiming is approximately 3 percent higher during the second year of the pandemic.

Notes:

Print version record

October 2022.