Archive: Michael J. Brien
![Their finances are in the green](https://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/social_security_3-1536x1025.jpg.webp)
Abstract The Social Security program, like the federal income tax system, is not marriage neutral. In the income tax literature, when a couple faces a higher (lower) tax bill as a married couple than as two single individuals, it is said that the couple, in effect, faces a marriage penalty (marriage subsidy). Similarly, provisions in…