I examine the effects of the introduction of the Spouse's Allowance to the Canadian Income Security system on the retirement behaviour of couples. This policy intervention provides an excellent opportunity to investigate how income security programs affect the timing of retirement. The structure...

I examine the effects of the introduction of the Spouse's Allowance to the Canadian Income Security (IS) system on the retirement behavior of couples. This program was effectively targeted at females in couples attempting to live on a single pension. It allowed qualifying spouses to receive the...

A large international literature has documented the labor market distortions associated with social security benefits for near-retirees. In this paper, we investigate the 'other side' of social security programs, seeking to document improvements in wellbeing arising from the provision of public...