Aged widows and OASDI: age at and economic status before and after receipt of benefits

This article, which is based on panel data from the Retirement History Study, analyzes the economic status of widows in late middle age. Its objectives are threefold: (1) To describe the income, labor-force, and demographic characteristics of widows 2 to 3 years before they become eligible for old-age benefits under the old-age, survivors, and disability insurance (OASDI) program; (2) to examine the age at which they elect benefits and the characteristics associated with that decision; and (3) to compare their economic status before and after they begin collecting benefits. The findings show that employment during the pre-OASDI period greatly influenced a widow's benefit-timing decision. Among workers, the decision was related to earnings, occupation, job tenure, extent of employment, income from assets, pension coverage, monthly benefit amount, and work limitations. Earnings and monthly benefit amount were important pivotal variables. Although the majority of widows experienced a reduction in their standard of living after moving into beneficiary status, a sizable minority--made up mainly of the most economically disadvantaged--experienced and improvement.