We examine the impact of Japan's pension reform on divorce. In typical Japanese couples, spouses enjoy marital gains from the division of labor, not only during their younger years but also into old age, with the primary earner generating income through pension benefits and the dependent spouse contributing through household work. The reform allowed dependent spouses to claim half of the primary earner's pension contributions during the marriage upon divorce. Thus, dependent spouses could secure these gains without maintaining marital relationships. Using the reform as a natural experiment, we test the hypothesis that the reduction in marital gains increased the likelihood of divorce. Our analysis reveals that among couples experiencing the largest reduction in these gains, divorce incidents rose by 10 to 20% in a few years after the reform. This finding highlights the importance of marital gains from the division of labor in shaping divorce decisions.

We use a life-cycle labor search model in which firms post contracts specifying job formality and wages calibrated to match key aspects of the Brazilian labor market to study two sets of pension reforms --- reforms which change the share of pension contributions paid by the firm and reforms which change the pension contribution tax base. We find that fixing the total per worker pension contribution rate but increasing the share paid by the firm leads to less vacancy posting, a higher non-employment rate, and a lower labor share. On the other hand, reforms which weaken the linkage between formality and public pension contributions by changing the pension tax base lead to an increase in aggregate vacancies and the formality share. The results highlight the importance of firm responses in policy reforms in developing countries.

Public pension coverage has been expanding worldwide in response to the challenges of an aging society, potentially influencing health-related decisions. Leveraging Mongolia's pension policy, which expanded voluntary participation differently across birth cohorts, this study examines the effects of pension participation on the health-related behaviors of informal workers. Using a difference-in-differences approach with nationally representative survey data, I find causal evidence that pension participation reduces tobacco consumption, indicating a behavioral shift toward healthier living. This study contributes to the literature on the effects of social protection in developing countries, asymmetric information in insurance markets, and tobacco control policies.

Many countries use increases in the Early Retirement Age (ERA) as a tool to limit spending on public pensions. This paper examines how the gradual increase in the ERA for women from 60 to 65 affected working-age disability benefit receipt and claims in England and Wales. Importantly, throughout this period, the maximum age of eligibility for applying for disability benefits (which are neither means-tested nor contingent on non-employment) was 65. As such, this reform allows us to study how changes in public pension eligibility directly affect disability benefit take-up in the absence of any changes to the age of eligibility for those benefits. We find that reaching the ERA is associated with around a 0.5 percentage-point reduction in women’s disability benefit prevalence, equivalent to about 5% of the baseline prevalence. The effect grows over time. Our findings underscore the interplay between rising ERA and alternative forms of social security.