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Biomedical subjects

B Bridges

Publications and source records attributed to B Bridges.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1987

Policy analysis through microsimulation: the STATS model.

This article gives a nontechnical introduction to a microsimulation model developed by the Social Security Administration to consider the effects of tax and benefit proposals on the economic status of population groups. This model, the Simulated Tax and Transfer System (STATS) model, uses information from a nationally representative survey of households to calculate taxes or benefits for thousands of persons or families, case by case. Then the model aggregates across individual cases to produce estimates for economic and demographic groups of interest to policymakers. Groups are defined by such characteristics as family income, age, sex, and marital status. The article explains the model's microsimulation approach and its emphasis on the economic status of population groups. It describes the procedures for simulating taxes and benefits and then illustrates the use of the model by considering a proposal to change the way Social Security benefits are taxed. The article also discusses the primary data source and the extent to which it limits the types of estimates that the model can produce.

Computer Simulation↗
PubMed1981

Price and income changes for the elderly.

It is widely believed that inflation is harmful to the elderly. Two frequent arguments in support of this belief are that some important income sources for the elderly are less than fully indexed to inflation and that the elderly spend heavily on goods and services whose prices rise faster than the average inflation rate. This article focuses on both the income issue and the expenditure issue. The first part of the article evaluates the question of whether an economy-wide consumer price index is an adequate measure of the cost of living for the elderly population. The evaluation is made by constructing a consumer price index using expenditure weights that are more appropriate for the elderly population. It is found that over the 1967-79 period the movement of this constructed index was very similar to that of the economy-wide index. The constructed index did grow slightly faster than the economy-wide index, however. The second part of the article focuses on changes in average real incomes of the elderly over the 1970-77 period. Two dimensions of income changes are examined. First, the incomes of families headed by persons aged 65 or over are compared at different points in time. It is found that average real income of this age class was 10 percent higher in 1977 than in 1970. Second, the 1970 and 1977 incomes of the cohort of families headed by persons aged 65 or over in 1970 are compared. It is found that average real income of this cohort fell by 4 percent between 1970 and 1977.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1981

Family Social Security taxes compared with Federal income taxes, 1979.

Increases in Social Security taxes during the past decade or so have prompted frequent comparisons of Social Security taxes and Federal personal income taxes. In this article, new evidence is brought to bear on this issue. Two specific questions are addressed: For 1979, what percentage of family units paid more in Social Security tax than in Federal income tax? How did this relationship between Social Security and income tax payments vary with family unit income and other family unit characteristics?

Adolescent↗