[en] This paper investigates the retirement patterns of married couples in Belgium.
To forecast retirement behavior, we use administrative Social Security data from
2003 to 2017 and a discrete choice random utility model. In particular, we con-
centrate on the spousal bonus of pension payments to comprehend how nancial
incentives resulting from the social security system's structural design a ect both
partners' retirement decisions. We simulate the e ect of the elimination of the
spousal bonus and nd that a small portion of women delay their retirement
whereas the rest substitute into alternative social security bene ts. Our results
do not only highlight the signi cance of cross-program spillovers between various
Social Security bene ts, but also the heterogeneity in preferences for retirement
and the asymmetry of retirement behavior between husbands and wives.
Disciplines :
Economic systems & public economics
Author, co-author :
Cetin, Sefane
Jousten, Alain ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de droit > Finances publiques et politique économique ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Cité
Language :
English
Title :
Retirement Decision of Belgian Couples and the Impact of the Social Security System
Publication date :
2025
Journal title :
Economist (De)
ISSN :
0013-063X
eISSN :
1572-9982
Publisher :
Springer, Heidelberg, Netherlands
Volume :
173
Pages :
519–557
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Funding text :
Cetin gratefully acknowledges financial support of ARC Project n°18/23-088 on \Sustainable, Safe and Adequate Pensions". Jousten acknowledges financial support from FNRS through grant J.0177.18.
