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The Effect of Means-Tested Income Support for the Elderly on Pre-Retirement Saving: Evidence from the SSI Program in the U.S

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Author Info
David Neumark
Elizabeth Powers

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Abstract

We attempt to draw inferences about potential behavioral responses to means-tested" income support for the elderly by examining the effects on saving of the Supplemental Security" Income (SSI) program for the aged in the U.S. 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 criteria and benefit levels for the federal component of the program but many states supplement federal SSI benefits substantially. We exploit the state-level" variation in SSI benefits to estimate the effects of SSI on saving. We use data from selected" waves of the 1984 Survey of Income Program Participation (SIPP). We find evidence that high" SSI benefits reduce saving among households with heads who are approaching the SSI eligibility" age and who are likely participants in the program.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 6303.

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Date of creation: Dec 1997
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:6303

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. J. Gruber & A. Yelowitz, . "Public Health Insurance and Private Savings," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1135-97, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. David Neumark & Elizabeth Powers, . "Means Testing Social Security," Pension Research Council Working Papers 97-24, Wharton School Pension Research Council, University of Pennsylvania.
  3. James P. Smith, 2004. "Racial and Ethnic Differences in Wealth in the Health and Retirement Study," Labor and Demography 0408011, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Powers, Elizabeth T., 1998. "Does means-testing welfare discourage saving? evidence from a change in AFDC policy in the United States," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 33-53, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Nancy Jianakoplos & Paul Menchik & Owen Irvine, 1989. "Using Panel Data to Assess the Bias in Cross-sectional Inferences of Life-Cycle Changes in the Level and Composition of Household Wealth," NBER Chapters, in: The Measurement of Saving, Investment, and Wealth, pages 553-644 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  6. Orazio P. Attanasio, 1993. "A Cohort Analysis of Saving Behavior by U.S. Households," NBER Working Papers 4454, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Olivia S. Mitchell & Stephen P. Zeldes, 1996. "Social Security Privatization: A Structure for Analysis," NBER Working Papers 5512, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Poterba, James M & Venti, Steven F & Wise, David A, 1994. "Targeted Retirement Saving and the Net Worth of Elderly Americans," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(2), pages 180-85, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. J. P. Ziliak, . "Income Transfers and Assets of the Poor," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1202-99, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty. [Downloadable!]
  2. Elizabeth T. Powers & David Neumark, 2003. "The Interaction of Public Retirement Income Programs in the United States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(2), pages 261-265, May. [Downloadable!]
  3. Timothy Smeeding & R. Kent Weaver, 2003. "The Senior Income Guarantee (SIG): A New Proposal To Reduce Poverty Among The Elderly," Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College 2001-12, Center for Retirement Research. [Downloadable!]
  4. Timothy M. Smeeding & Katherin Ross Phillips & Michael O'Connor, 1999. "The EITC: Expectation, Knowledge, Use, and Economic and Social Mobility," Center for Policy Research Working Papers 13, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University. [Downloadable!]
  5. Mary C. Daly & Richard V. Burkhauser, 2002. "The Supplemental Security Income program," Working Papers in Applied Economic Theory 2002-20, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. David Neumark & Elizabeth T. Powers, 2006. "SSI, Labor Supply, and Migration," Working Papers 050628, University of California-Irvine, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. David Neumark & Elizabeth T. Powers, 2003. "The Effects of Changes in State SSI Supplements on Pre-Retirement Labor Supply," NBER Working Papers 9851, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. James X. Sullivan, 2005. "Welfare Reform, Saving, and Vehicle Ownership: Do Asset Limits and Vehicle Exemptions Matter?," Staff Working Papers 05-117, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Miles, David K & Sefton, James, 2002. "Optimal Social Security Design," CEPR Discussion Papers 3290, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Erik Hurst & James P. Ziliak, 2004. "Do Welfare Asset Limits Affect Household Saving? Evidence from Welfare Reform," NBER Working Papers 10487, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  11. David Neumark & Elizabeth Powers, 1998. "Welfare for the Elderly: The Effects of SSI on Pre-Retirement Labor Supply," NBER Working Papers 6805, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  12. Elizabeth T. Powers & David Neumark, 2002. "The Supplemental Security Income Program And Incentives To Take Up Social Security Early Retirement: Empirical Evidence from Matched SIPP and Social Security Administrative Files," Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College 2001-06, Center for Retirement Research. [Downloadable!]
  13. Elizabeth Powers & David Neumark, 2001. "The Supplemental Security Income Program and Incentives to Take Up Social Security Early Retirement: Empirical Evidence from Matched SIPP and Social.," NBER Working Papers 8670, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Elizabeth T. Powers & David Neumark, 2003. "The Supplemental Security Income Program and Incentives to Claim Social Security Retirement Early: Empirical Evidence from Matched SIPP and Social Security Administrative Files," Working Papers wp036, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center. [Downloadable!]
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