Abstract:

Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adult Men, 1966-1983, are drawn on to examine the process of status determination - the translation of background status characteristics into economic outcomes - as it changes over the later stages of the life cycle for a sample of 5,023 men initially surveyed at ages 45-59. Because of the increased dependence of cohorts on public transfers during old age, the extent to which old age reduces, heightens, or maintains the importance of market-based sources of stratification reflects the redistributive impact of retirement income relative to market income. The impact of status characteristics important during work careers - race, residence, education, occupation - on economic outcomes before & after the normal age of eligibility for retirement benefits is compared. For family income & assets, adjusted for family size & inflation, results show only modest change in the effects of background variables over time, across ages, or with hours worked, & suggest more continuity than change in the determinants of income.