2014 Conference

Social Security provides retirement benefits to age-eligible workers who have a history of at least ten years of covered employment. Spouses of those workers, who are not eligible for higher benefits based on their own work history, are entitled to receive 50 percent of the benefit of their husband or wife. The eligibility for the spousal benefit is conditional on the duration of marriage; only individuals who were married to an eligible worker for at least ten years are entitled to receive the spousal benefit. The proposed research will use data from the Health and Retirement Study and the regression discontinuity method to evaluate whether the economic incentives embedded in regulations of eligibility for Social Security spousal benefits affect the likelihood and timing of marriage termination through a divorce.