graduated Summa Cum Laude in May 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematical Economics. I have been an active member of Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity and am also a church lector for the University of Kentucky Newman Center. Throughout the majority of my undergraduate career, I was fortunate to take part in the Computer Science, Engineering, and Mathematics scholarship (CSEMS) program funded by the National Science Foundation. I plan on working until I get married in the spring of 2005, after which I am considering attending graduate school for economics. My personal relationship to the situation presented in this paper has made completing this project a very interesting and also satisfying process.
The Social Security Survivorship benefit pays over $5 billion per month to 6 million recipients. Amanda’s research is a serious contribution to understanding how the structure of the program affects female labor supply. She observed that the survivor benefits decrease when the children of the deceased turn 18. However, because most individuals do not become self-supporting then, this may induce surviving spouses to work more. Amanda utilized the 1996 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation. She constructed a set of variables that measure quarterly changes in labor force participation over a fouryear period. She found that widows were far more likely to move from part-time to full-time status as their children turned 18. This finding suggests that there is a substantial effect of the policy on labor force participation. It suggests further research into the well being of these families is important, and her conclusions suggest some interesting and potentially fruitful possibilities for future research. The paper is well done and highly professional.
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