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The Retirement Behavior of Married Couples: Evidence From the Spouse's Allowance

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  • Michael Baker

Abstract

I examine the effects of the introduction of the Spouse's Allowance to the Canadian Income Security system on the retirement behavior of couples. This policy intervention provides an excellent opportunity to investigate how income security programs affect the timing of retirement. The structure of the Allowance also provides a view of how programs targeted at one spouse can affect the behavior of the other. Finally, conditional of the types of data available for this time period, the analysis considers the joint labor market decisions of couples. The results indicate that the introduction of the Allowance is associated with decreased employment rates and increased not in the labor force rates among eligible males. Eligible females did not share the rising employment rates over the 1970s experienced by their counterparts who were not eligible for the Spouse's Allowance.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Baker, 1999. "The Retirement Behavior of Married Couples: Evidence From the Spouse's Allowance," Working Papers baker-99-01, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:tor:tecipa:baker-99-01
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Blau, David M, 1998. "Labor Force Dynamics of Older Married Couples," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(3), pages 595-629, July.
    2. Jonathan Gruber, 1999. "Social Security and Retirement in Canada," NBER Chapters, in: Social Security and Retirement around the World, pages 73-99, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    4. Michael D. Hurd, 1990. "The Joint Retirement Decision of Husbands and Wives," NBER Chapters, in: Issues in the Economics of Aging, pages 231-258, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. David A. Wise, 1990. "Issues in the Economics of Aging," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number wise90-1.
    6. Vistnes, Jessica Primoff, 1994. "An Empirical Analysis of Married Women's Retirement Decisions," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 47(1), pages 135-55, March.
    7. Pozzebon, Silvana & Mitchell, Olivia S, 1989. "Married Women's Retirement Behavior," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 2(1), pages 39-53.
    8. Baker, Michael & Benjamin, Dwayne, 1999. "Early Retirement Provisions and the Labor Force Behavior of Older Men: Evidence from Canada," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(4), pages 724-756, October.
    9. Vistnes, Jessica Primoff, 1994. "An Empirical Analysis of Married Women's Retirement Decisions," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 47(1), pages 135-155, March.
    10. Baker, Michael & Benjamin, Dwayne, 1999. "How do retirement tests affect the labour supply of older men?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 27-51, January.
    11. Blau, David M., 1997. "Social security and the labor supply of older married couples," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 373-418, December.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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