Claiming Social Security Benefits Early to Retire Later
Abstract
This paper examines Social Security benefit claiming behavior in the US using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to implement a duration model. It focuses essentially on the rushing/delaying behavior of the unemployed and investigates whether older unemployed individuals lacking liquidity use Social Security benefits as a safety net in order to finance consumption during an unemployment episode. This way, Social Security might be thought as a form of unemployment insurance which would allow them to maintain their standard of living during their job search. The purpose of this paper is hence to find empirical evidence about the potential insurance function of Social Security benefits, which would provide support for integrating Unemployment Insurance with Retirement Insurance even before eligibility to Social Security (SS) benefits.
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