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Employment, Social Security, and Future Retirement Outcomes for Single Mothers

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by Richard W. Johnson, Melissa M. Favreault, and Joshua H. Goldwyn July 2003

WP#2003-14  

Abstract 

Employment rates for single mothers with dependent children have risen steadily in recent years, due in part to welfare reform and expansions in the Earned Income Tax Credit. This paper examines this recent increase and analyzes the implications for future retirement security. The results show that increases in employment and earnings for single mothers during the late 1990s will translate into modestly higher Social Security benefits and better retirement outcomes when they reach later life, assuming these trends persist. Despite this improvement, however, most single mothers will continue to fare worse in retirement than other women, primarily because they generally earned low wages throughout their working lives and many lack financial support from spouses.

For executive summary in PDF

For full paper in PDF 

Richard W. Johnson, Melissa M. Favreault, and Joshua H. Goldwyn are at the Urban Institute. The research reported herein was supported by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College pursuant to a grant from the U.S. Social Security Administration funded as part of the Retirement Research Consortium. The opinions and conclusions are solely those of the authors and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policy of the Social Security Administration or any agency of the Federal Government, the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, or the Urban Institute, its boards, or its funders. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Kevin McManus, Doug Murray, Karen Smith, Jillian Berk, and Sandi Nelson, and comments on an earlier draft from Barbara Bovbjerg and Sheila Zedlewski.