Financial Stress, Social Networks, and Political Participation: Evidence from Social Security Benefit Cycles

• In Event: Redistribution, Economics, and Political Psychology

Brief Overview

We exploit elderly individuals' random assignment to Social Security paydays to assess the role of the pay cycle on behavior. Using both administrative and survey data, we find that reduced financial stress leads retirees to participate more.

Authors

• Hunter E Rendleman, Harvard University

• Jacob R Brown, Harvard University