The Economic Well Being Of Social Security Beneficiaries With An Emphasis On Divorced Beneficiaries

There are numerous types of benefits paid under the Social Security programs of the United States, with each type of benefit having its own set of eligibility rules and benefit formula. It is likely that there is an association between the type of benefit a person receives and the economic circumstances of the beneficiary. This paper explores that association using records from the Current Population Survey exactly matched to administrative records from the Social Security Administration. Divorced beneficiaries are a particular focus of this paper. Type of benefit is found to be a strong predictor of economic well-being. Two large groups of beneficiaries, retired-worker and aged married-spouse beneficiaries, are fairly well off. Other types of beneficiaries tend to resemble the overall U.S. population or are decidedly worse off. Divorced-spouse beneficiaries have an unusually high incidence of poverty and of serious health problems. A proposal to increase benefits for these beneficiaries is evaluated. Results indicate that much of the additional government expenditures would be received by those with low income.

The study of public economics has undergone dramatic changes in the past two decades. Major developments in economic theory have revolutionized the subject and have changed the way we view the role of government. The constraints of information and institutions have called into question the ability of the government to carry out some of its traditional tasks, but have also led to new instruments and approaches for dealing with the problem of economic policy such as the design of the redistribution and tax system. Understanding the importance of the economic, behavioral and institutional constraints facing government is critical for evaluating policy options. This is ultimately an empirical issue. This book of a symposium on empiricial public finance indicates the richness and diversity of empirical approaches that have been used to shed light on the problems of applied public finance and its application.