Open AccessHow Does Health Insurance Affect the Retirement Behavior of Women?
Author(s) -
Kanika Kapur,
Jeannette Rogowski
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.792
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1945-7243
pISSN - 0046-9580
DOI - 10.5034/inquiryjrnl_48.01.04
Subject(s) - affect (linguistics) , health and retirement study , health insurance , self insurance , demographic economics , business , group insurance , actuarial science , psychology , economics , health care , gerontology , medicine , economic growth , communication
The availability of health insurance is a crucial factor in the retirement decision. Women are substantially less likely to have health insurance from their own employment. Using the Health and Retirement Study, we examine the role of employer-provided retiree health insurance in the retirement decisions of single women, and women in single-earner and dual-earner couples. We compare the effect of health insurance on female and male retirement. Our results show that retiree health insurance increases retirement for all groups except single men. We find suggestive evidence that the role of health insurance for women hinges on their husbands' labor force status.