Women, Marriage, and Social Security Benefits Revisited
by Christopher R. Tamborini and Kevin Whitman
Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 67, No. 4, 2007
Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 67, No. 4, 2007
| Type of benefit | 1960 | 1970 | 1975 | 1980 | 1985 | 1990 | 1995 | 2000 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retired-only | 38.7 | 42.1 | 42.3 | 41.0 | 38.5 | 36.9 | 36.2 | 38.0 | 41.4 |
| Spouse-only | 32.8 | 22.4 | 19.6 | 17.6 | 16.4 | 15.3 | 14.3 | 12.9 | 11.4 |
| Widow-only | 23.4 | 26.8 | 26.1 | 25.4 | 24.9 | 24.3 | 23.6 | 21.5 | 19.3 |
| Dually entitled/spouse | 2.4 | 3.4 | 4.4 | 6.2 | 8.7 | 10.4 | 11.5 | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| Dually entitled/widow | 2.1 | 5.0 | 7.4 | 9.6 | 11.5 | 13.0 | 14.4 | 15.6 | 16.0 |
| SOURCE: Social Security Administration, Master Beneficiary Record. Reported in SSA 2007 (Table 5.A14). | |||||||||
| NOTES: All data for 2005 and dual entitlement data for 1995 and 2000 are based on a 10-percent sample. All other years are 100 percent data. Worker benefits excludes special age-72 beneficiaries and disabled adult children. Dually entitled includes disabled workers. Widow only beneficiaries include disabled widows and mothers. | |||||||||