AN EMPIRICAL-ANALYSIS OF MARRIED WOMENS RETIREMENT DECISIONS

This paper estimates a transitional probability model to analyze the r etirement decisions of married women in the Retirement History Study. The results show that an increase in the marginal change in Social Sec urity wealth from additional work increases the probability that marri ed women continue to work. This result implies that married women who receive a Social Security spouse benefit based on their husbands' earn ings records, retire earlier than otherwise similar married women. The study also suggests that pension coverage of the wife encourages work at younger ages but discourages work at older ages.