United States public policy and the elderly

Cross-sectional comparisons show that poverty among the aged in the United States has dropped dramatically over the last two decades. We use longitudinal data to identify economic events associated with unfavorable economic outcomes and to trace the influence of these events on women and men at different ages. We find that while social insurance programs appear to prevent severe financial hardship from the most frequent work-related events, they are far less effective in cushioning the economic impact of widowhood and divorce, especially for women. We suggest a number of policy changes that would provide some measure of social insurance against adverse family-related events.This paper was presented at the ISPE Conference on the Fiscal Implications of an Aging Population, Limburg, The Netherlands, May 30, 1990. The authors shared equally in writing the paper and are listed alphabetically. The paper was completed while R. V. Burkhauser was a fellow at The Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Deborah Laren provided superb research assistance.