Wage declines among older men

We examine the evidence on whether real wages decline with age among older men. While the general human capital model of wage growth over the life cycle predicts that wages will fall as workers approach the end of their career, alternative models of wage growth do not predict these wage declines. We find that in longitudinal estimates of age-wage profiles wage declines only set in for workers in their 60s. Furthermore, these longitudinal declines are at least partly due to interactions with the Social Security system. The earnings cap or other effects of Social Security appear to lead some workers to choose jobs and job characteristics associated with lower wages.