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CONTACT: Michael
T. Childress (502-564-2851).
Kentucky Retirement Survey: Background Information
and Sample Characteristics
In the Fall of 1999 the Administrative Office of the
Courts generated, from voter registration and driver’s license lists,
a random sample of Kentuckians born before January 1, 1955. Included in
the sample were the names and addresses of 2,500 persons age 45 and
older. The University of Kentucky Survey Research Center administered a
17-page, 69-question survey to these 2,500 individuals between February
1, 2000 and February 4, 2000. The survey was closed on May 12, 2000,
with 962 total completions included in the data. Among the responses,
313 were considered ineligible for various reasons and 1,225 recipients
did not answer the survey. The response rate was 44.4 percent (962
divided by 2,187). Table A.1 shows some sample characteristics.
Table A.1 Sample Characteristics for the
Kentucky Retirement Survey, 2000
Model Specification
The estimated percentages in Figure 2 (Policy Note 5)
are based on the impact of Social Security dependence on standard of
living while holding a number of other socioeconomic and demographic
factors constant. (See Table A.2 for a crosstabulation between
standard of living and "dependence" on Social Security.) We
used a cumulative logit model for ordinal responses to estimate the
relationship between the dependent variable and several independent
variables. The dependent variable is the respondent’s self-assessment
of their current standard of living. The actual question is: Compared
to the end of your working career, would you say your current standard
of living is: (1) much better now; (2) better now; (3) about the same;
(4) worse now; or (5) much worse now. We collapsed the dependent
variable into three categories so that "worse" or "much
worse" equals one, "about the same" equals two, and
"better" or "much better" equals three. The
independent variables in the model are listed below, along with
parameter estimates in Table A.3 and a correlation matrix in Table A.4:
-
METROCO — This dichotomous variable is equal to 1 if the individual lives in an urban county and 0 for a rural county. We used Beale Codes to categorize the respondent’s county. If the county is designated as “0” through “3” then METROCO equals 1. Otherwise, if the Beale Code is equal to 4 through 9 then METROCO equals 0.
-
AFRDMED — The question is: Can you afford to pay for all your medical needs? This variable equals 0 for “no” and 1 for “yes.”
-
GENDER — This dichotomous variable is equal to 1 for males and 0 for females.
-
Q2INC, Q3INC, Q4INC, MISINC — These dichotomous variables reflect if the individual’s total household income from all sources before taxes is in the second, third, fourth quartile, or missing. The first quartile is left out of the model and is therefore the comparison group. The variable equals 1 if the individual’s income falls in the quartile (or is missing in the case of MISINC) and 0 if it does not. The variable
Q1INC equals 1 if income is between “none” and $14,999. The variable
Q2INC equals 1 if income is between $15,000 and $29,999. The variable
Q3INC equals 1 if income is between $30,000 and $49,999. The variable
Q4INC equals 1 if income is $50,000 or higher.
-
SOMEPSE — The survey respondents were asked to please circle the last grade in school you completed. SOMEPSE equals 1if they circled “1 or 2 years college, no degree,” “graduated junior or community college,” or “vocational/technical degree.”
-
BAorMORE — The survey respondents were asked to please circle the last grade in school you completed. If they circled “bachelor’s degree,” “some graduate school work,” or “graduate degree (ex: MA, MS, PhD, JD)” then BAorMORE equals 1.
-
OVER65 — If the respondent is over 65 years old, then OVER65 equals 1 (otherwise equals 0).
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SSMAJ — The respondents were asked which source of income is or will be their most important source of income in retirement. If they indicated “Social Security,” then SSMAJ equals 1. Otherwise, if they listed another source, like pensions, employment, or savings, then SSMAJ equals 0.
Table A.2:
Crosstabulation Between Standard of
Living And Social Security Dependence
Table A.3: Estimating Standard of Living,
Parameter Estimates
Table A.4: Correlation Matrix: Pearson
Correlation Matrix/Significance/Number of Observations
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