Purpose: As part of an ongoing effort to analyze the distributional implications of potential policy reforms to the U.S. Social Security system, we consider the widely discussed reform of earnings sharing. Such an approach has been viewed as a way to "update" Social Security's family benefits based on marital status and as a means to…

After a long decline, the Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) of older men in the United States leveled off in the 1980s, and began to increase in the late 1990s. We examine how changes in Social Security rules affected these trends. We attribute only a small portion of the decline from the 1960s-80s to the increasing generosity of Social…

A key challenge facing western welfare states is that they offset income risks faced by those in breadwinner families. Social Security is an excellent example. It best protects individuals with lengthy work histories or individuals who get married, stay married, and are never employed. Most women fit neither model. Thus, I analyze…

The U.S. population includes over 23 million women aged 45 to 64 and 17 million women aged 65 and over. Their life experiences are very different from those of men. The median total income of women trails that of men at all ages. Women at all ages are twice as likely as men to be poor. Poverty among the elderly is closely associated with sole…