NB21-05: How Do the Social Security Statement and Online Resources Affect Claiming and Work?

The two largest tools used by SSA to communicate with future and current beneficiaries are the personal Social Security Statement and "my Social Security" online accounts. This project uses administrative SSA records to estimate how the introductions and modifications in these communications affected work and claiming behavior. The Social Security Statement was automatically mailed to households from 2000 to 2010, discontinued in 2011, and then reintroduced and discontinued several times over the subsequent six years. My Social Security online accounts were introduced in 2012, allowing users instant access to the same information as in the Statement as well as interactive planning tools. SSA tracks individual usage of the My Social Security resource. This project exploits the variation in Statement schedules and in my Social Security introduction and utilization to estimate their effect on work and claiming decisions.