Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/272649 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 16022
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Recipiency of tax or transfer benefits in the United States often depends on marital status, creating complicated incentives that reward marriage for some and penalize it for others. Same-sex couples, who only recently gained the right to marry, now face the same marriage incentives that different-sex couples faced for decades. We highlight marriage incentives affecting older couples, who have rarely been studied. Using the American Community Survey, we estimate decreases in marriage among older, previously married women, which are consistent with remarriage disincentives from Social Security and marriage disincentives from Medicaid that are more salient for women.
Subjects: 
marriage
Social Security
Medicaid
same-sex marriage
JEL: 
J12
H55
I13
J16
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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