We attempt to draw inferences about the potential behavioral responses to means testing Social Security by examining the effects of the Supplementary Security Income (SSI) program for the aged on wealth accumulation and employment. Part of the SSI program provides payments to the poor elderly, thus operating as a means-tested public retirement program. The federal government sets eligibility cr...

Relying on data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) linked to longitudinal social security earnings data, we examine differences between breast cancer survivors and a non-cancer control group in employment, hours worked, wages, and earnings. Overall, breast cancer has a negative impact on employment. However, among survivors who work, hours of work, wages, and earnings are higher compare...

This paper studies the impact of income taxes on intensive and extensive labor supply decisions for older workers. The literature provides little evidence about the responsiveness of the older population to tax incentives, though the tax code is a potentially important mechanism for affecting retirement behavior. We estimate the intensive and extensive margins jointly with a new approach accoun...

This article examines the extent of employer-sponsored pension receipt and the amounts of pension benefits among a cohort of retirement-age women interviewed in the New Beneficiary Survey. These women reported relatively low levels of pension protection. Only 27 percent were receiving a pension in late 1982, either from their own employment or as survivors. This was one-half the rate of current...

BACKGROUND We explore the possible consequences of measured hearing impairment (HI) and perceived hearing difficulties for early retirement in a large population-based study. Furthermore, we study whether having a part-time position was associated with measured HI and perceived hearing difficulties in the same population. METHODS This study included 25,740 persons from the Nord-Trøndelag Heal...

Many elderly women in industrially developed countries are at, or near to, functionally important strength related thresholds and so have either lost, or are in danger of losing, the ability to perform some important everyday tasks. The increased rate of healthcare expenditure due to loss of physical function is a major economic issue. Even though women make up most of the senior population, li...