Trends in male labor force participation and retirement: Some evidence on the role of pensions and social security in the 1970s and 1980s

This article estimates the effects of changes in pension plans and social s ecurity in the 1970s and 1980s on the steady state retirement of men. Work incentives associated with pension coverage and plan characteristics are ca lculated primarily from the 1969-79 Retirement History Study and the 1983 a nd 1989 Surveys of Consumer Finances. Simulations with a structural retirem ent model suggest that the long-run effects of changes in pension plans and social security account for about a quarter of the reduction in full-time work by men in their early sixties but cannot explain the reduction by thos e age 65.