Social Security and Retirement Timing: Evidence from a National Sample of Teachers

Melinda Morrill and John Westall

No 25411, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This study documents an important role for Social Security income in workers' retirement timing. About 40 percent of public school teachers are not covered by Social Security. This provides an opportunity to analyze the causal impact of Social Security on retirement timing by comparing covered and non-covered teachers. Using individual-level data from the American Community Survey, we find robust evidence of higher rates of retirement among covered teachers at Social Security eligibility ages. This pattern is confirmed using an alternative regression model of participation in the teacher labor force. These estimates suggest that, should the federal government mandate full inclusion in Social Security for all public sector workers, the retirement timing patterns of newly covered teachers and other public sector workers would likely change.

JEL-codes: H55 H75 I28 J26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-lma, nep-pbe and nep-pub
Note: AG
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published as Melinda Sandler Morrill & John Westall, 2019. "Social security and retirement timing: evidence from a national sample of teachers," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, vol 18(04), pages 549-564.

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Journal Article: Social security and retirement timing: evidence from a national sample of teachers (2019)
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