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Marriage in Old Age: What Can We Learn about Policy Impacts on Same-Sex Couples?
General Information
Title
Marriage in Old Age: What Can We Learn about Policy Impacts on Same-Sex Couples?
Author
Leora Friedberg, Elliott Isaac
Publication Type
Working paper
Outlet
IZA Discussion Paper Series
Year
2023
Abstract
Recipiency of tax or transfer benefits in the United States often depends on marital status,
creating complicated incentives that reward marriage for some and penalize it for others.
Same-sex couples, who only recently gained the right to marry, now face the same marriage
incentives that different-sex couples faced for decades. We highlight marriage incentives
affecting older couples, who have rarely been studied. Using the American Community
Survey, we estimate decreases in marriage among older, previously married women, which
are consistent with remarriage disincentives from Social Security and marriage disincentives
from Medicaid that are more salient for women.