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…

This paper presents new evidence of the causal effect of family size on child quality in a developing-country context. We estimate the impact of family size on child labor and educational outcomes among Brazilian children and young adults by exploring the exogenous variation of family size driven by the presence of twins in the family. Using the…

During the 1990s, employment rates of people with disabilities fell and the number of working-age people receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits increased dramatically, Analysis of Current Population Survey and disability insurance data suggests that growth in the SSDI program accounts for much of the decline in employment…

This longitudinal analysis of the labor market behavior of older males focuses on changes from wage-and-salary to self-employment and changes from working to nonworking status. It was found that the self-employed were significantly more likely to continue work. (Author/SK)

Social Security earnings tests do not deter women from working, whereas men respond to current benefits and their labor force participation is inhibited by the tests. Increases in the delayed retirement benefit increased the labor supply of older women, but not older men. (SK)

Labor market attachment differs significantly across young black, Mexican, and white men. Although it has long been agreed that potential experience is a poor proxy for actual experience for women, many view it as an acceptable approximation for men. Using the NLSY, this paper documents the substantial difference between potential and actual…

Models of aggregate production are estimated and used to investigate the effects of changes in labor force composition on the recently observed decline in the earnings of college graduates relative to other workers and on the fall in the earnings of younger workers relative to older workers. (Author/SSH)