2008
The Transformation in Who is Expected to Work in the United States and How it Changed the Lives of Single Mothers and People with Disabilities
WP 2008-187 , UM08-Q2
In the 1990s, social expectations of single mothers shifted towards the notion that most should, could, and would work, if given the proper incentives. This shift in expectations culminated in the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation…
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Are All Americans Saving ‘Optimally’ for Retirement?
WP 2008-189 , UM08-01
Many people fear that Americans are preparing poorly for retirement. But developing rigorous evidence on this issue is difficult. In this paper we briefly discuss evidence on the adequacy of retirement wealth accumulation. We conclude that existing descriptive evidence does…
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Preparation for Retirement, Financial Literacy and Cognitive Resources
WP 2008-190 , UM08-07
Traditional economic models assume that individuals have full information and act perfectly rationally. However, we show that there is considerable variation in financial literacy in the population and propose modeling the acquisition of financial knowledge in a human capital production…
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Labor Market and Immigration Behavior of Middle-Aged and Elderly Mexicans
WP 2008-192 , UM08-14
In this study we analyzed the retirement behavior of Mexicans with migration spells to the United States that returned to Mexico and non-migrants. Our analysis is based on rich panel data from the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS). Approximately…
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Curing the Dutch Disease: Lessons for United States Disability Policy
WP 2008-188 , UM08-Q2
In the 1990s, the United States reformed welfare programs targeted on single mothers and dramatically reduced their benefit receipt while increasing their employment and economic wellbeing. Despite increasing calls to do the same for working age people with disabilities in…
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The Optimal Design of Social Security Benefits
WP 2008-197 , UM08-19
The United States Social Security system is fairly unique in that it explicitly allows for a progressive formulation of retirement benefits by assigning a larger replacement rate to workers with small pre-retirement wages. In contrast, the public pension systems in…
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How Do Lower-Income Families Think about Retirement?
WP 2008-195 , UM08-15
How do low-income households think about retirement? Do they think about retirement? If so, when do they think they will retire, and what is it they plan to live on? In this paper, we present evidence on these questions based…
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Pension Reform in Mexico: The Evolution of Pension Fund Management Fees and their Effect on Pension Balances
WP 2008-196 , UM08-16
In 1997 Mexico introduced Personal Retirement Accounts (PRAs) which, after a transition phase, will completely replace the pay-as-you-go (PAYG) system. We give a detailed overview of the relevant institutional framework, the market of PRA providers and how it has evolved…
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Saving among Low-Income Women: Motivation and Obstacles
WP 2008-199 , UM08-Q3
How do low-income households think about saving? What motivations do they identify for saving, and what obstacles to meeting their goals? We use data from qualitative interviews with 51 households in Detroit to shed light on these questions. We find…
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Retirement Wealth Across Cohorts: The Role of Earnings Inequality and Pension Changes
WP 2008-186 , UM08-18
Changes in labor markets over the past 30 years suggest upcoming changes in the distribution of wealth at retirement. Baby boom cohorts have spent the majority of their prime earnings years in a labor market with increased earnings inequality. This…
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