Suicide and the Social Security Early Retirement Age

Abstract

Using a regression discontinuity framework, this paper documents a previously unnoticed drop of 7%-8% in the U.S. suicide rate upon reaching age 62 during 1990-2014. This decline is concentrated among men, nearly doubled in size over the most recent decade as the income gap between those just older and younger narrowed, and represents the only trend break among ages 45-79. These findings, along with the observed timing of retirement and benefit claims and research on how income affects suicide, suggest that the likely explanation is Social Security early retirement benefit eligibility rather than retirement per se. (JEL I12, H55) 3. In contrast to this finding for mortality specifically from suicide, ongoing work by Fitzpatrick and Moore, using RD with individual-level administrative data and more precise information on date of birth, suggests that overall mortality increases upon reaching age 62 (abstract available at http://crr.bc.edu/about-us/grants/howdoes-early-retirement-affect-mortality/).

Effects of social security policy reforms on mental health and inequalities: A systematic review of observational studies in high-income countries

“…Increasing Retirement benefits in the USA, South Korea and Chile,(n=5) Five studies in the review examined expansionary policy changes related to retirement benefits (Table 3). While two of these studies focused on changes to earnings-related contributory benefits in the US (Desimone, 2018;Golberstein, 2015), the remaining three studies, two in South Korea (Lee and Wolf, 2014;Pak, 2020) and one in Chile (García and Otero, 2017), evaluated the impact of expanding means-tested support aimed at reducing poverty among the low-income elderly.…”

“…However, such differences in results could be, at least partially, attributed to heterogeneity across the studies. For example, both of the J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f studies that found positive effects focused on contributory retirement benefits, were based in the USA and focused on the effects on depression and suicide (Desimone, 2018;Golberstein, 2015). In contrast, the remaining three studies that investigated means-tested benefits for low-income elderly, were based in South Korea and Chile (García and Otero, 2017;Lee and Wolf, 2014), and evaluated effects on more general measures of subjective wellbeing, which suggests that the results of these studies are not directly comparable.…”

Investigating the relationship between changes in social security benefits and mental health: a protocol for a systematic review

“…For example, suicide Open access rates in men in the USA fall sharply when individuals become eligible for social security retirement benefits, even though only a small fraction of men retire at this age. 8 Moreover, two major systematic reviews investigating the relationship between income and health in OECD countries also found that additional financial resources, including those from social security benefits, can have positive effects on both adult 9 and child mental health. 10 11 Lack of social protection, on the other hand, has been associated with negative effects on mental health.…”