What is it about?
There is surprisingly strong link between unemployment rates in the U.S. states and the level of Old Age program expenditures. States with increasing unemployment experience broader coverage of seniors and higher benefit levels. This is surprising since benefits are determined by earnings history, so you might not expect such high variation in coverage and levels across the states.
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Why is it important?
As the Social Security old age pensions become the dominant form of retirement income for most seniors, the economic and distributive impacts of the program will grow.
Perspectives
We generally think of Social Security as part of the safety net, but it turns out to be have a potentially large role in blunting the impact of recessions. I hope the findings in the paper inspire more work on exactly how the massive transfer of revenue in the old age program affects economic outcomes during recessions
J. Kevin Corder
Western Michigan University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: How do social security expenditures vary by state? The surprising impact of unemployment, Journal of Public Policy, January 2018, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s0143814x17000277.
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