Report on the earnings sharing implementation study

This article summarizes the report on the earnings sharing implementation study mandated by the Social Security Amendments of 1983. In general, earnings sharing means that a married couple would share equally any earnings credited for social security purposes during years of their marriage. The principles of earnings sharing can be meshed with present law in a variety of ways. A range of earnings sharing plans are analyzed. Transitional provisions are included and distributional and cost effects for each plan are provided. In addition, implementation concerns are analyzed and feasible time periods for implementing an earnings sharing plan are discussed. However, no recommendations about the feasibility or desirability of an earnings sharing plan are made. The analysis of the earnings sharing plans in the report shows that implementation of any of these plans would cause a number of persons to get higher benefits than would be available under present law, and, except for one plan that has a permanent guarantee of present law benefit levels, each plan would cause a number of persons to get lower benefits. Women, in general, would get higher benefits under an earnings sharing system, but many individual women and most men would get lower benefits. A variety of proposals other than earnings sharing that have been suggested over the years as ways to improve social security protection for women are also analyzed.