Data on COVID-19 Discussed by Researchers at Michigan State University (Older Workers’ Employment and Social Security Spillovers Through the Second Year of the Covid-19 Pandemic): Coronavirus – COVID-19

2023 NOV 20 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at NewsRx COVID-19 Daily -- Investigators publish new report on Coronavirus - COVID-19. According to news reporting from East Lansing, Michigan, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a large and immediate drop in employment among U.S. workers, along with major expansions of unemployment insurance (UI) and work from home. We use Current Population Survey and Social Security application data to study employment among older adults and their participation in disability and retirement insurance programs through the second year of the pandemic.”

Financial support for this research came from We would like to thank Sara Ji, Saniya Mahate, Rosemary Rhodes, and Bradley Strauss for outstanding research assistance, and seminar participants at the NBER meetings on the Labor Market for Older Workers, NBER Summer Institute, MEA annual meetings, and WE.

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Michigan State University, “We find ongoing improvements in employment outcomes among older workers in the labor force, along with sustained higher levels in the share no longer in the labor force during this period. Applications for Social Security disability benefits remain depressed, particularly for Supplemental Security Income. In models accounting for the expiration of expanded UI, we find some evidence that the loss of these additional financial supports resulted in an increase in disability claiming.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Social Security retirement benefit claiming is approximately 3% higher during the second year of the pandemic.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Older Workers’ Employment and Social Security Spillovers Through the Second Year of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Journal of Pensions Economics and Finance, 2023;22(4):524-549. Journal of Pensions Economics and Finance can be contacted at: Cambridge Univ Press, Edinburgh Bldg, Shaftesbury Rd, CB2 8RU Cambridge, England.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Emilie Jackson, Michigan State University, Dept. of Economics, East Lansing, MI 48824, United States. Additional authors for this research include Gopi Shah Goda, Lauren Hersch Nicholas and Sarah See Stith.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474747223000069. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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