How strong is the Social Security safety net? Using the Elder Index to assess gaps in economic security
How strong is the Social Security safety net? Using the Elder Index to assess gaps in economic security
Older Americans rely heavily on Social Security benefits (SSBs) to support independent lifestyles, and many have few or no additional sources of income. We establish the extent to which SSBs adequately support economic security, benchmarked by the Elder Economic Security Standard Index. We document variability across U.S. counties in the adequacy levels of SSBs among older adults. We find that the average SSBs fall short of what is required for economic security in every county in the United States, but the level of shortfall varies considerably by location. Policy implications relating to strengthening Social Security and other forms of retirement income are discussed.
Social security, Elder Economic Security Standard Index, economic insecurity, spatial inequality
123-137
Mutchler, Jan E.
9cdf3eff-f8c9-4be8-a764-c5d2072e5eba
Li, Yang
4789a098-30e5-4197-8082-e467601b7a52
Xu, Ping
46f468cf-c2a1-43af-b224-d792619832d0
1 February 2019
Mutchler, Jan E.
9cdf3eff-f8c9-4be8-a764-c5d2072e5eba
Li, Yang
4789a098-30e5-4197-8082-e467601b7a52
Xu, Ping
46f468cf-c2a1-43af-b224-d792619832d0
Mutchler, Jan E., Li, Yang and Xu, Ping
(2019)
How strong is the Social Security safety net? Using the Elder Index to assess gaps in economic security.
Journal of Aging & Social Policy, 31 (2), .
(doi:10.1080/08959420.2018.1465798).
Abstract
Older Americans rely heavily on Social Security benefits (SSBs) to support independent lifestyles, and many have few or no additional sources of income. We establish the extent to which SSBs adequately support economic security, benchmarked by the Elder Economic Security Standard Index. We document variability across U.S. counties in the adequacy levels of SSBs among older adults. We find that the average SSBs fall short of what is required for economic security in every county in the United States, but the level of shortfall varies considerably by location. Policy implications relating to strengthening Social Security and other forms of retirement income are discussed.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 22 May 2018
Published date: 1 February 2019
Keywords:
Social security, Elder Economic Security Standard Index, economic insecurity, spatial inequality
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 472698
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/472698
ISSN: 0895-9420
PURE UUID: cad3a710-8b96-4726-8973-cbc3cff319d2
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Date deposited: 15 Dec 2022 17:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 22:50
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Author:
Jan E. Mutchler
Author:
Yang Li
Author:
Ping Xu
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