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Joint Retirement of Couples: Evidence from Discontinuities in Denmark

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  • Esteban García-Miralles
  • Jonathan M. Leganza

Abstract

We study how social security influences the retirement behavior of couples. First, we exploit over two decades of full-population data and a discontinuity design to document sizable retirement spillovers to spouses when individuals reach pension eligibility age. Next, we explore underlying mechanisms. We find age differences within couples to be a fundamental determinant of joint retirement, which is driven by older spouses working longer. Accounting for these age differences reveals a strong gender gap, which prevails after controlling for relative earnings. Finally, in a complementary analysis we show that a reform increasing eligibility ages induces similar spillovers to spouses.

Suggested Citation

  • Esteban García-Miralles & Jonathan M. Leganza, 2021. "Joint Retirement of Couples: Evidence from Discontinuities in Denmark," CESifo Working Paper Series 9191, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9191
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    Cited by:

    1. Cetin, Sefane & Jousten, Alain, 2022. "Retirement Decision of Belgian Couples and the Impact of the Social Security System," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2022024, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    2. Todd Morris, 2022. "The unequal burden of retirement reform: Evidence from Australia," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(2), pages 592-619, April.
    3. Etgeton, Stefan & Fischer, Björn & Ye, Han, 2023. "The effect of increasing retirement age on households’ savings and consumption expenditure," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    4. Giesecke, Matthias & Jäger, Philipp, 2021. "Pension incentives and labor supply: Evidence from the introduction of universal old-age assistance in the UK," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    joint retirement; pension eligibility age; couples labor supply;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions

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