Search Results
Monograph
The labor supply of older American men
This chapter summarizes what is known about the labor supply of older American men, defined as those aged 55 years and over. The topic is of great interest because in the coming decades older individuals will comprise a much greater portion of the U.S. population, so the labor supply of older adults will have a significant impact on national output, tax revenues, and the cost of means-tested programs. Most importantly, a greater proportion of older individuals will need to remain in the workforce than is the present case, because the retirement income system is contracting and working longer ...
Working Paper
Property taxes and elderly mobility
The recent housing market boom in the U.S. has caused sharp increases in residential property taxes. Housing-rich but income-poor elderly homeowners often complain about rising tax burdens, and anecdotal evidence suggests that some move to reduce their tax burden. There has been little systematic analysis, however, of the link between property tax levels and the mobility rate of elderly homeowners. This paper investigates this link using household-level panel data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and a newly collected dataset on state-provided property tax relief programs. These ...
Working Paper
Reversing the trend: the recent expansion of the reverse mortgage market
Reverse mortgages allow elderly homeowners to tap into their housing wealth without having to sell or move out of their homes. However, very few eligible homeowners have used reverse mortgages to achieve consumption smoothing until recently when the reverse mortgage market in the United States witnessed substantial growth. This paper examines 1989-2007 loan-level reverse mortgage data and presents a number of findings. First, I show that recent reverse mortgage borrowers are significantly different from earlier borrowers in many respects. Second, I find that borrowers who take the ...
Journal Article
An ounce of prevention : helping the elderly with daily money management
In 1991, 30 Massachusetts nonprofits approached AARP and the Office of Elder Affairs about providing money-management assistance to seniors. The resulting program helps roughly 1,200 clients per month to handle their finances with less anxiety.
Working Paper
Aging and strategic learning: the impact of spousal incentives on financial literacy
American women tend to be less financially literate than men, which is consistent with a household division of labor in which men manage finances. However, women also tend to outlive their husbands, so they will eventually need to take over this task. Using a new survey of older couples, I find that women acquire financial literacy as they approach widowhood. At an estimated increase of 0.04 standard deviations per year approaching widowhood, 80 percent of women in the sample would catch up with their husbands prior to the expected onset of widowhood. These findings reflect actual increases ...
Essay
Older Americans Faced Early Pandemic Credit Constraints
Older Americans saw debt fall early in the pandemic, but also their existing credit curtailed and new credit denied at greater rates than younger consumers.
Monograph
Public policy and the labor supply of older Americans
Most of the papers prepared for this conference make clear the desirable economic effects if older Americans worked longer and spent fewer years in retirement. Despite a small upturn in labor market participation by older workers in recent years, there is substantial room for significantly greater movement in this direction. The public policy framework is a major determinant of when Americans decide to retire. Both workers and employers take some account of the rules related to retirement that are present in the Social Security laws, tax laws, and regulations governing private pension plans ...
Conference Paper
The seven deadly sins in aging policy and research: a cautionary list for policy makers and prognosticators
Pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and sloth?theologians tell us that we become better people by examining these sources of failure. But my concern here is not with the classic seven deadly sins, but what I feel are the contemporary seven deadly sins being committed in current policy and research on aging. Reflecting on them likewise provides some warning signs for us acting as policymakers, researchers, or prognosticators.
Speech
The recovery and monetary policy
Remarks at the National Association for Business Economics Annual Meeting, New York City.
Working Paper
Intergenerational aspects of health care
The physical process of aging means that the use of health services varies significantly by age. This association between age and health care consumption raises a number of issues related to intergenerational and intragenerational equity, including the allocation of societal resources across age groups and the effects of population aging and health cost growth on public sector health care burdens and, hence, on intergenerational redistribution. This working paper (forthcoming as a chapter in the Oxford Handbook of Health Economics) provides a detailed look at the theoretical and empirical ...