Retirement in Dual‐Career Families: A Structural Model

TLDR

The study estimates a structural econometric model of dual‑career couples’ retirement using panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women. The model shows that dual‑career couples tend to retire together, driven by correlated leisure preferences and a heightened valuation of retirement once a spouse has retired, while individual opportunity sets explain single‑spouse peaks but not joint retirements.

Abstract

A structural econometric model of retirement of dual‐career couples is specified and estimated with panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women. A coincidence of spouses retiring together, despite the younger ages of wives, suggests explicit efforts at coordination. The estimates suggest that one reason is a correlation of tastes for leisure. More important, each spouse, and perhaps husbands in particular, values retirement more once their spouse has retired. The opportunity set accounts for peaks in the retirement hazards of each spouse individually but not for peaks in the simultaneous retirement of both spouses.