Date of Award
Winter 1-6-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Economics
First Advisor
Partha Deb
Second Advisor
Kenneth McLaughlin
Academic Program Adviser
Karna Basu
Abstract
Nearly four decades ago, Congress passed the Social Security Amendments of 1983. The changes were significant, and they pressured people to delay retirement. In this thesis, I use individual-level data from the Annual and Social Economic Supplement of the Current Population Survey and the Health Retirement Study to analyze the effects of the amendments. The amendments affect individuals at the same age, but across different years. Year of birth determines treatment by the amendments. I control for year of birth and age effects in a difference-in-difference model and interact treatment with age to identify the effects of the amendments on employment status, alcohol consumption, and depression. I find ambiguous evidence of the effects of the amendments on employment status, no evidence of an effect of the amendments on alcohol consumption, and questionable evidence of an effect on depression.
Recommended Citation
DelGenio, Adam J., "The Effects of the Social Security Amendments of 1983 on Employment Status, Alcohol Consumption, and Depression" (2023). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/981