ISBN:
9780444826466
Content:
This chapter provides an overview of the economic models that explain the concept of retirement and consumption and saving. The chapter discusses the empirical evidence about the models. The discussion is in the context of data from the United States because US data are more extensive than data from other countries. On average, the economic status of the elderly has improved greatly over the past 25 years. The poverty rate of elderly widows is still high, although valuing noncash income would certainly reduce it substantially. Wealth and income comparision in the 1979 Rural Household Survey (RHS) and the 1984 Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP), and poverty rates of singles and couples are tabulated in the chapter. These results and examination of the rates of increase of Social Security and pension benefits indicate that the economic status of the elderly should improve slowly as the increases propagate through the system. Social Security benefits of the oldest should continue to increase and more of the elderly will have pension income. Many models have assumed that individuals are alike, yet observed behavior, particularly saving behavior, varies substantially across individuals.
In:
Handbook of population and family economics, Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 1997, (1997), Seite 891-966, 9780444826466
In:
0444826467
In:
year:1997
In:
pages:891-966
Language:
English
DOI:
10.1016/S1574-003X(97)80008-6
URL:
Volltext
(Deutschlandweit zugänglich)
