Abstract
Researchers have devoted considerable attention to analyzing the impact of Social Security on retirement, with mixed findings. However, the means-tested program Old Age Assistance (OAA) dwarfed Social Security until the 1950s and coincided with the early decline in elderly labor force participation. Also, OAA benefits were determined by the states – a key source of policy variation. I estimate the relationship between OAA benefits and elderly participation using individual data from the 1940 and 1950 Censuses. OAA's impact is found to be strong and implies that participation would have risen slightly instead of falling if benefits had not increased during the 1940s.
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