The Growing Gap in Life Expectancy by Income: Implications for Federal Programs and Policy Responses

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Synopsis

According to many studies, life expectancy has been rising fastest for people with higher education or income, so the gap in longevity by socioeconomic status has been increasing. This trend is important in itself, but it also means that higher-income people will increasingly collect government benefits such as Social Security over more years than will lower-income people. It also means that some proposed policy changes to make programs fiscally sustainable, such as raising the normal retirement age for Social Security or raising the eligibility age for Medicare, might disproportionately affect those with lower incomes.

These topics are discussed in this report. The study first reviews the literature on differences in longevity by education and by income and on trends in these differences; the committee then constructs some new estimates of our own. Next the report discusses the conceptual background for these issues and why they are important. We go on to evaluate the way that the widening income differences in mortality affect the value of net lifetime benefits for different income groups from Social Security retirement and spousal benefits, Disability Insurance, Survivors Insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, and Supplemental Security Income. Finally, we consider how the differential changes in mortality would affect analyses of some possible reforms to government programs for the elderly in the face of population aging. We consider the consequences of policies such as raising the earliest eligibility age and the normal retirement age under Social Security, raising the age of eligibility for Medicare, basing the cost-of-living adjustment on a different kind of consumer price index, and changing the formula for how benefits are calculated for higher-income beneficiaries.

Copyright:
2015

Book Details

Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:
9780309317078
Related ISBNs:
9780309317085
Publisher:
The National Academies Press
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
the National Academy of Sciences
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
Nonfiction, Social Studies, Politics and Government, Sociology
Submitted By:
Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

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