Pea-n-Me
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2004
- Messages
- 42,139
The history of spousal SS is interesting. Some snippets (of a long, drawn out explanation! 
):
https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v67n4/67n4p1.html
It is important to note that spouse and widow benefit rules have been modified over time. The 1939 Social Security Amendments originally established a spouse benefit equal to one-half of the retired-worker benefit of the present spouse and a survivor's benefit equal to three-fourths of the deceased spouse's worker benefit. Benefits were extended to divorced widows with children and dependent widowers in the 1950 amendments. In 1965, divorced wives and surviving divorced spouses without children became eligible for payments, but there was a dependency and a 20-year length of marriage requirement.Congress raised widow(er)s benefits in 1972 from 82.5 percent of the deceased worker's benefit to 100 percent (Martin and Weaver 2005). In 1977, the length of marriage requirement was reduced from 20 years (240 months) to 10 years (120 months), and remarried women were allowed to receive a regular survivor benefit from the deceased spouse's record if the remarriage occurred after age 60 (age 50 if disabled).
To date, Social Security spouse and widow benefits remain a major source of income for elderly women.
The retirement security of women is a clear concern among policymakers and retirement analysts. Although women's economic situation at old age has improved greatly over the past 30 years, women are still more likely than men to experience old-age poverty; partly because women earn less over their lifetimes and live longer than men. In 2004, the poverty rate for women aged 65 or older was 12 percent, compared with 7 percent for men.
Trends in women's retirement income have been a longstanding point of interest in the retirement literature, and Social Security spouse and widow benefits constitute an important source of income for many aged women. Since marital history affects women's potential eligibility for spouse and widow benefits, it is important to understand changes in marital trends in the context of Social Security rules, particularly as the leading edge of the baby-boom cohort begins retiring.
While caution should be used in interpreting differences across data sources, this article highlights both important changes and continuities in women's potential eligibility for spouse and widow benefits since 1985. On the one hand, despite important structural changes in marital patterns such as the "retreat from marriage" (Goldstein and Kenney 2001; Waite 1995), over three-fourths of women aged 40 to 69 in the 2001 SIPP already had marital histories that assured them the option for spouse or widow benefits at retirement. On the other hand, trends reveal a downward shift in the share of women potentially eligible for spouse or widow benefits in future years due to changing marital patterns among baby boomers. Changes are principally evident for the Middle Age cohort (aged 40–49), which had a significantly higher share of never-married and divorced women with shorter marriages in 2001 than in 1985.
As a whole, this article contributes to our understanding of sociodemographic trends affecting the Social Security program and distributional outcomes of its beneficiary population. Most aged women qualify for Social Security benefits as wives or widows today. However, a growing tendency toward never marrying, along with shorter marriages before divorce, among the younger wave of baby boomers may foreshadow a decline in the proportion of women that will be eligible for spouse or widow benefits in future years. These trends could have an important effect on the sources, and in some instances adequacy, of retirement income for some women, as well as the sociodemographic profile of the overall beneficiary population for Social Security."
):https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v67n4/67n4p1.html
It is important to note that spouse and widow benefit rules have been modified over time. The 1939 Social Security Amendments originally established a spouse benefit equal to one-half of the retired-worker benefit of the present spouse and a survivor's benefit equal to three-fourths of the deceased spouse's worker benefit. Benefits were extended to divorced widows with children and dependent widowers in the 1950 amendments. In 1965, divorced wives and surviving divorced spouses without children became eligible for payments, but there was a dependency and a 20-year length of marriage requirement.Congress raised widow(er)s benefits in 1972 from 82.5 percent of the deceased worker's benefit to 100 percent (Martin and Weaver 2005). In 1977, the length of marriage requirement was reduced from 20 years (240 months) to 10 years (120 months), and remarried women were allowed to receive a regular survivor benefit from the deceased spouse's record if the remarriage occurred after age 60 (age 50 if disabled).
To date, Social Security spouse and widow benefits remain a major source of income for elderly women.
The retirement security of women is a clear concern among policymakers and retirement analysts. Although women's economic situation at old age has improved greatly over the past 30 years, women are still more likely than men to experience old-age poverty; partly because women earn less over their lifetimes and live longer than men. In 2004, the poverty rate for women aged 65 or older was 12 percent, compared with 7 percent for men.
Trends in women's retirement income have been a longstanding point of interest in the retirement literature, and Social Security spouse and widow benefits constitute an important source of income for many aged women. Since marital history affects women's potential eligibility for spouse and widow benefits, it is important to understand changes in marital trends in the context of Social Security rules, particularly as the leading edge of the baby-boom cohort begins retiring.
While caution should be used in interpreting differences across data sources, this article highlights both important changes and continuities in women's potential eligibility for spouse and widow benefits since 1985. On the one hand, despite important structural changes in marital patterns such as the "retreat from marriage" (Goldstein and Kenney 2001; Waite 1995), over three-fourths of women aged 40 to 69 in the 2001 SIPP already had marital histories that assured them the option for spouse or widow benefits at retirement. On the other hand, trends reveal a downward shift in the share of women potentially eligible for spouse or widow benefits in future years due to changing marital patterns among baby boomers. Changes are principally evident for the Middle Age cohort (aged 40–49), which had a significantly higher share of never-married and divorced women with shorter marriages in 2001 than in 1985.
As a whole, this article contributes to our understanding of sociodemographic trends affecting the Social Security program and distributional outcomes of its beneficiary population. Most aged women qualify for Social Security benefits as wives or widows today. However, a growing tendency toward never marrying, along with shorter marriages before divorce, among the younger wave of baby boomers may foreshadow a decline in the proportion of women that will be eligible for spouse or widow benefits in future years. These trends could have an important effect on the sources, and in some instances adequacy, of retirement income for some women, as well as the sociodemographic profile of the overall beneficiary population for Social Security."
