1This study is based on Jagadeesh Gokhale and Laurence J. Kotlikoff, "Does It Pay to Work?" revised, November 2002. Laurence Kotlikoff is deeply grateful to The Smith Richardson Foundation, Boston University, Economic Security Planning, Inc., the Employment Policies Institute, and the National Institute on Aging for research support. The views expressed here and findings reported here are solely those of the authors and not those of their respective institutions.

2Higher-earning couples experience the loss of benefits when they go to work. But the higher their level of earnings, the smaller is this loss as a share of the increase in spending associated with working.

3Note: These are payroll taxes net of increases in Social Security benefits.