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Social Security Eligibility and the Labor Supply of Older Immigrants

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  • George J. Borjas

Abstract

The employment rate of native-born men falls at a much faster rate than that of immigrants as the two groups approach the age of retirement. The author draws on U.S. Census data from 1960–2000 to examine how the eligibility requirements for Social Security benefits affect immigrants' decisions to leave the labor market as they near retirement age. Because a person needs to have worked in the United States for at least ten years to qualify for benefits, newly arrived immigrants may not yet have accumulated the requisite employment credits to do this and thus have greater employment rates than other comparably aged persons. The probability that an older immigrant is employed falls once the ten-year work rule is satisfied. The implication of this finding is that immigration may affect the increase in retirement benefits that will inevitably occur as the baby boom generation retires.

Suggested Citation

  • George J. Borjas, 2011. "Social Security Eligibility and the Labor Supply of Older Immigrants," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 64(3), pages 485-501, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:64:y:2011:i:3:p:485-501
    DOI: 10.1177/001979391106400304
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Stacie Carr & Marta Tienda, 2013. "Family Sponsorship and Late-Age Immigration in Aging America: Revised and Expanded Estimates of Chained Migration," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 32(6), pages 825-849, December.
    2. Dias, Felipe A & Chance, Joseph, 2021. "COVID-19, Public Charge Rules, and Immigrant Employment in the United States," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt37f8w4sf, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    3. Dudel, Christian & Myrskylä, Mikko, 2020. "Cohort trends in working life expectancies at age 50 in the United States: a register-based study using social security administration data," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 106256, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Mary J. Lopez & Sita Slavov, 2020. "Do immigrants delay retirement and social security claiming?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(10), pages 1105-1123, February.
    5. Åslund, Olof & Larsson, Fredrik & Laun, Lisa, 2024. "Joining late, leaving early? Immigrant-native disparities in labor market exit," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    6. Daniel Rauhut & Birgit Aigner-Walder & Rahel M. Schomaker, 2023. "Economic Theory and Migration," Springer Books, in: The Economics of Immigration Beyond the Cities, chapter 0, pages 21-50, Springer.
    7. Zaiceva, A. & Zimmermann, K.F., 2016. "Migration and the Demographic Shift," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 119-177, Elsevier.
    8. Adam M. Lavecchia & James Stutely, 2025. "Earnings Responses to Social Security Contributions: Evidence from Older Workers in Canada," Department of Economics Working Papers 2025-07, McMaster University.
    9. Furtado, Delia & Theodoropoulos, Nikos, 2012. "Immigrant Networks and the Take-Up of Disability Programs: Evidence from US Census Data," IZA Discussion Papers 6649, IZA Network @ LISER.
    10. Lawrence Brunner & Joseph Pate, 2016. "Promoting entry of high-quality workers through US immigration policy," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(52), pages 5045-5059, November.
    11. Alma Vega & Noli Brazil, 2015. "A multistate life table approach to understanding return and reentry migration between Mexico and the United States during later life," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 33(43), pages 1211-1240.

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