Data and Code for: Household Labor Supply and the Value of Social Security Survivors Benefits

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) David Coyne, U.S. Department of the Treasury; Itzik Fadlon, University of California-San Diego; Shanthi Ramnath, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; Patricia Tong, RAND Corporation

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
data			12/20/2023 04:48:AM
output			12/20/2023 10:18:AM
programs			12/19/2023 09:48:PM
Online Appendix Table G.1.xlsx	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet	14.1 KB	12/20/2023 05:17:AM
README.pdf	application/pdf	726.6 KB	02/07/2024 02:19:PM

Project Citation:

Coyne, David, Fadlon, Itzik, Ramnath, Shanthi, and Tong, Patricia. Data and Code for: Household Labor Supply and the Value of Social Security Survivors Benefits . Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2024. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2024-04-01. https://doi.org/10.3886/E195986V1

Project Description

Summary:

We combine quasi-experimental variation in spousal death and age-eligibility for survivors benefits using U.S. tax records to study the effects on American households’ labor supply and the design of Social Security’s survivors insurance. Benefit eligibility at the exact age of 60 induces sharp reductions in the labor supply of newly widowed households, highlighting the value of survivors benefits and the liquidity they provide following the shock. Among eligible widows, the spousal death event induces no increases in labor supply, suggesting little residual need to self-insure. Using theory, we underscore the program’s protective insurance role and its high valuation among survivors.

Funding Sources: U.S. Social Security Administration (RRC08098400-09)

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: Administrative ; Tax; Data

JEL Classification:
      D10 Household Behavior: General
      H00 Public Economics: General
      H55 Social Security and Public Pensions

Geographic Coverage: United States

Time Period(s): 1999 – 2014

Collection Date(s): 9/16/2021 – 9/16/2021

Universe: We use two datasets. The first includes all widows ages 55-70 in the tax records whose husband died between 2002-2007. The second includes the surviving widows ages 50-70 of a 20% random sample of all men who died between the years 2002 and 2007 and were married in the year prior to their death.

Data Type(s): administrative records data; survey data

Methodology

Sampling: We use two datasets. The first includes all widows ages 55-70 in the tax records whose husband died between 2002-2007. The second includes the surviving widows ages 50-70 of a 20% random sample of all men who died between the years 2002 and 2007 and were married in the year prior to their death.

Data Source: Internal Revenue Service. 2021. Population Files 2002-2018, Department of Treasury, Washington DC

Ruggles, Steven, Sarah Flood, Matthew Sobek, Daniel Backman, Annie Chen, Grace Cooper, Stephanie Richards, Renae Rogers, and Megan Schouweiler. IPUMS USA: Version 14.0 American Community Survey. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS, 2023. https://doi.org/10.18128/D010.V14.0

Unit(s) of Observation: Individual

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Published Versions

V1 [2024-04-01]

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