IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/h/nbr/nberch/6038.html
   My bibliography  Save this book chapter

The Economic Status of the Elderly

In: Financial Aspects of the United States Pension System

Author

Listed:
  • Michael D. Hurd
  • John B. Shoven

Abstract

In the first part of the paper using official data sources, we estimate the real income of the elderly and of the rest of the population during the 1570s. We find that income per household of the elderly has increased more rapidly than income per household of the rest of the population, even though the elderly's fraction of income from work decreased greatly. In the rest of the paper we use the 1969 and 1975 Retirement History Surveys to estimate income, wealth and inflation vulnerability of households whose heads were ages 58 through 63 in 1969. The income data verified the results from the official data. The 1969 wealth data show that a representative person on the eve of retirement has small holdings of financial assets: most of the assets are in housing, Social Security and Medicare. Between 1969 and 1975 real wealth increased slightly on average. There was some tendency for the distribution to tighten. We found that contrary to popular opinion, on average the elderly are not especially vulnerable to a sudden increase in either prices or the rate of inflation. Most of their assets are inflation protected. The wealthy are most vulnerable to inflation.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Michael D. Hurd & John B. Shoven, 1983. "The Economic Status of the Elderly," NBER Chapters, in: Financial Aspects of the United States Pension System, pages 359-398, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberch:6038
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/chapters/c6038.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Benjamin A. Okner, 1975. "Individual Taxes and the Distribution of Income," NBER Chapters, in: The Personal Distribution of Income and Wealth, pages 45-74, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. James D. Smith, 1975. "The Personal Distribution of Income and Wealth," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number smit75-1, March.
    3. Michael J. Boskin & Michael D. Hurd, 1982. "Are Inflation Rates Different for the Elderly?," NBER Working Papers 0943, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Clark, Robert L & Kreps, Juanita & Spengler, Joseph J, 1978. "Economics of Aging: A Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 919-962, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Michael D. Hurd, 1989. "The Poverty of Widows: Future Prospects," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of Aging, pages 201-230, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Steven F. Venti & David A. Wise, 1990. "Have IRAs Increased U. S. Saving?: Evidence from Consumer Expenditure Surveys," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 105(3), pages 661-698.
    3. Kathleen M. McGarry & Andrew Davenport, 1998. "Pensions and the Distribution of Wealth," NBER Chapters, in: Frontiers in the Economics of Aging, pages 463-486, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Hamermesh, Daniel S, 1984. "Consumption during Retirement: The Missing Link in the Life Cycle," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 66(1), pages 1-7, February.
    5. Michael D. Hurd, 1989. "Issues and Results from Research on the Elderly I: Economic Status (Part I of III Parts)," NBER Working Papers 3018, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Michael J. Boskin & John B. Shoven, 1984. "Concepts and Measures of Earnings Replacement During Retirement," NBER Working Papers 1360, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. David T. Ellwood, 1985. "Pensions and the Labor Market: A Starting Point (The Mouse Can Roar)," NBER Chapters, in: Pensions, Labor, and Individual Choice, pages 19-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Lawrence H. Summers, 1983. "Observations on the Indexation of Old Age Pensions," NBER Chapters, in: Financial Aspects of the United States Pension System, pages 231-258, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Stock, James H & Wise, David A, 1990. "Pensions, the Option Value of Work, and Retirement," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 58(5), pages 1151-1180, September.
    10. Michael D. Hurd & David A. Wise, 1989. "The Wealth and Poverty of Widows: Assets Before and After the Husband's Death," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of Aging, pages 177-200, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Steven F. Venti & David A. Wise, 1989. "Aging, Moving, and Housing Wealth," NBER Chapters, in: The Economics of Aging, pages 9-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Robert A. Moffitt, 1984. "Trends in Social Security Wealth by Cohort," NBER Chapters, in: Economic Transfers in the United States, pages 327-358, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Michael J. Boskin & John B. Shoven, 1986. "Poverty Among the Elderly: Where are the Holes in the Safety Net?," NBER Working Papers 1923, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Naohiro Yashiro, 2001. "Policy implications of demographic change: panel discussion: social implications of demographic change in Japan," Conference Series ; [Proceedings], Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, vol. 46, pages 297-304.
    15. Michael D. Hurd, 1987. "The Marginal Value of Social Security," NBER Working Papers 2411, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pogorelskiy, Kirill & Seidl, Christian & Traub, Stefan, 2010. "Tax progression: International and intertemporal comparison using LIS data," Economics Working Papers 2010-08, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Department of Economics.
    2. Torregrosa-Hetland, Sara, 2016. "Sticky Income Inequality In The Spanish Transition (1973-1990)," Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 34(1), pages 39-80, March.
    3. Frank T. Denton & Byron G. Spencer, 1998. "Economic Costs of Population Aging," Quantitative Studies in Economics and Population Research Reports 339, McMaster University.
    4. Robinson, Chris & McMahon, Pat J., 1981. "Off-Farm Investment and Employment in the Australian Grazing Industry: A Preliminary Analysis," Review of Marketing and Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 49(01), pages 1-21, April.
    5. F.T. Denton & C. Feaver & B.G. Spencer, 1996. "The Future Population of Canada and Its Age Distribution," Quantitative Studies in Economics and Population Research Reports 317, McMaster University.
    6. Joohun Han & Chanjin Chung, 2021. "Impact of Aging and Underemployment on Income Disparity between Agricultural and Non-Agricultural Households," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-15, October.
    7. Joe Ruggeri & Yang Zou, 2006. "Measures of Fiscal Dependency," Public Finance Review, , vol. 34(4), pages 381-403, July.
    8. Michael J. Boskin & John B. Shoven, 1984. "Concepts and Measures of Earnings Replacement During Retirement," NBER Working Papers 1360, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Findik Ozlem Alper & Ali Eren Alper & Okyay Ucan, 2016. "The Economic Impacts of Aging Societies," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 6(3), pages 1225-1238.
    10. Goda, Gopi Shah & Shoven, John B. & Slavov, Sita Nataraj, 2011. "How Well Are Social Security Recipients Protected From Inflation?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 64(2), pages 429-449, June.
    11. Frank T. Denton & Byron G. Spencer, 1999. "Population Aging and Its Costs: A Survey of the Issues and Evidence," Department of Economics Working Papers 1999-03, McMaster University.
    12. Olivia S. Mitchell & Gary S. Fields, 1981. "The Effects of Pensions and Earnings on Retirement: A Review Essay," NBER Working Papers 0772, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. B. Douglas Bernheim, 1987. "Dissaving after Retirement: Testing the Pure Life Cycle Hypothesis," NBER Chapters, in: Issues in Pension Economics, pages 237-280, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. J. R. Kearl & Clayne L. Pope, 1983. "Life-Cycles in Income and Wealth," NBER Working Papers 1146, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Charles Mullin & Tomas Philipson, 1997. "The Future of Old-Age Longevity: Competitive Pricing of Mortality Contingent Claims," NBER Working Papers 6042, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Marchand, J. & Smeeding, T., 2016. "Poverty and Aging," 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 905-950, Elsevier.
      • Marchand, Joseph & Smeeding, Timothy, 2016. "Poverty and Aging," Working Papers 2016-11, University of Alberta, Department of Economics, revised 20 Nov 2016.
    17. Ajamu Loving & Michael Finke & John Salter, 2012. "Explaining the 2004 Decrease in Minority Stock Ownership," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 39(4), pages 403-425, December.
    18. repec:ilo:ilowps:272881 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Michael D. Hurd & John B. Shoven, 1985. "Inflation Vulnerability, Income, and Wealth of the Elderly, 1969- 1979," NBER Chapters, in: Horizontal Equity, Uncertainty, and Economic Well-Being, pages 125-178, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Charles A. Joiner, 1975. "International Relations and Politics," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 421(1), pages 151-152, September.
    21. Peter S. Yoo, 1994. "The baby boom and economic growth," Working Papers 1994-001, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nbr:nberch:6038. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.