Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/258945 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
CEBI Working Paper Series No. 01/21
Publisher: 
University of Copenhagen, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI), Copenhagen
Abstract: 
We study how social security influences the retirement behavior of couples. First, we exploit over two decades of full-population data and a discontinuity design to document sizable retirement spillovers to spouses when individuals reach pension eligibility age. Next, we explore underlying mechanisms. We find age differences within couples to be a fundamental determinant of joint retirement, which is driven by older spouses working longer. Accounting for these age differences reveals a strong gender gap, which prevails after controlling for relative earnings. Finally, in a complementary analysis we show that a reform increasing eligibility ages induces similar spillovers to spouses.
Subjects: 
joint retirement
pension eligibility age
couples labor supply
JEL: 
J26
H55
D10
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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