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Changes in the Economic Well-Being of Widows Following the Death of Their Husband: A Four Country Comparison
Burkhauser, Richard V. | Giles, Philip | Lillard, Dean R. | Schwarze, Johannes
Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch, Vol. 123 (2003), Iss. 1 : pp. 151–161
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Burkhauser, Richard V.
Giles, Philip
Lillard, Dean R.
Schwarze, Johannes
Abstract
Using Cross-National Equivalent File (CNEF) data for the United States, Germany, Great Britain, and Canada, we investigate the economic loss widows experience. We find that, unadjusted for changes in household size, the loss measured by the household income replacement rate is smaller than the loss measured by the social security replacement rate. The household income replacement rate also varies less than does the social security replacement rate across countries and across groups of women whose husbands died at different ages. The median widow’s household size-adjusted income in the year after her husband’s death relative to the year before is about 0.9 when his death occurs at older ages and about 0.8 at younger ages in all four countries.