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CRR Compares Social Security Claiming Rates During COVID-19 and the Great Recession
On October 25, 2022, the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (CRR) published its brief, Social Security Claiming: COVID-19 vs. Great Recession. CRR studied the relative impacts of the COVID Recession and the Great Recession on the Social Security claiming behavior of various groups of workers. According to the brief, during the COVID Recession, the strong stock market resulted in an increase in the relative probability of early Social Security claiming rates among those with retirement assets. By comparison, during the Great Recession, workers remained in the labor market to replenish depleted savings.
Other key findings include:
- In early 2020, many Americans were concerned that the COVID crisis may cause workers to claim Social Security early similar to the Great Recession.
- By comparison, the COVID economy experienced strong growth in the stock market and significant unemployment relief unlike the Great Recession.
- The analysis compared the relative impacts of the two recessions on early claiming by earnings group which found that: 1) during COVID, the thriving stock market induced early claiming among workers with retirement assets; and 2) the generous unemployment benefits decreased early claiming for many lower-paid workers.
- Overall, the competing effects of the COVID Recession resulted in a slight decline in early claiming due to the COVID Recession, while the percentage claiming early increased significantly during the Great Recession.
The brief is available here.