The Potential Effects of Obesity on Social Security Claiming Behavior and Retirement Benefits
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12442080 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Melissa A Z Knoll (Office of Retirement Policy, U.S. Social Security Administration, Washington, DC, corresponding author), Dave Shoffner (Office of Retirement Policy, U.S. Social Security Administration, Washington, DC), Samantha O’Leary (0009-0008-4327-7989, Office of Retirement Policy, U.S. Social Security Administration, Washington, DC) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 73 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 723-732 |
| Publication date | 2016-04-02 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journals of Gerontology Series B (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1079-5014 • E-ISSN: 1758-5368 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/geronb/gbw016 |
| OpenAlex | W2338190623 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 21 |
Objectives: Obesity prevalence among Americans has increased for nearly three decades. We explore the relationship between the rise in obesity and Social Security retirement benefit claiming, a decision impacting nearly all aging Americans. Specifically, we investigate whether obesity can affect individuals' decision to claim benefits early, a choice that has important implications for financial security in retirement, particularly for those with lower socioeconomic status (SES). Method: We use a microsimulation model called MINT6 (Modeling Income in the Near Term, version 6) to demonstrate the potential effects of obesity on subjective life expectancy and claiming behavior. We impute obesity status using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which describes the distribution of obesity prevalence within the United States by gender, poverty status, and race/ethnicity. Results: We find that the rise in obesity and the consequent incidence of obesity-related diseases may lead some individuals to make claiming decisions that lead to lower monthly and lifetime Social Security retirement benefits. Further, we find that the potential economic impact of this decision is larger for those with lower SES. Discussion: We present a behavioral perspective by addressing the potential effects that obesity can have on individuals' retirement decisions and their resulting Social Security retirement benefits
Affect (linguistics · Demographic economics · Economic growth · Economics · Environmental health · Ethnic group · Health and Retirement Study · Life expectancy · Microsimulation · National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey · Obesity · Political science · Population · Poverty · Social security · Socioeconomic status · Sociology · Survey data collection · demographic modeling and climate adaptation · Health disparities and outcomes · Medicine · Psychology · Retirement, Disability, and Employment · Demography · Gerontology
Evaluation of the Subjective Probabilities of Survival in the Health and Retirement Study
Years of Life Lost Due to Obesity
Association of All-Cause Mortality With Overweight and Obesity Using Standard Body Mass Index Categories
Prevalence and Trends in Obesity Among US Adults, 1999-2008
Overweight, Obesity, and Mortality in a Large Prospective Cohort of Persons 50 to 71 Years Old
A Potential Decline in Life Expectancy in the United States in the 21st Century
Income Disparities in Body Mass Index and Obesity in the United States, 1971-2002
Do Smokers Respond to Health Shocks
The timing of the rise in U.S. obesity varies with measure of fatness
Does perception of life expectancy reflect health knowledge
Do smokers understand the mortality effects of smoking? Evidence from the Health and Retirement Survey
Weight Gain Trends Across Sociodemographic Groups in the United States
The Predictive Validity of Subjective Probabilities of Survival
Subjective life expectancy in the US
Secular Declines in the Association Between Obesity and Mortality in the United States
Cumulative Disadvantage and Health
| Citations per year | 0.2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2021 - 2021 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |