ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a descriptive analysis of the changes in income that occur in the months immediately preceding and following the death of a husband, using data from the 1990 and 1991 panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). It describes the 1990 and 1991 SIPP panels to examine the economic status of women prior to and after the death of their husbands. The economic experiences of women who are widowed during the panel periods are compared to the economic experiences of similarly aged women who remain married throughout SIPP. The consensus of these studies is that the husband's death there is typically a substantial decline in economic resources and a commensurate rise in the risk of falling into poverty. The lower economic status of widows compared to married couples appears to be composed of two somewhat equal parts: long-standing economic differences and a drop in economic status that occurs at the time of the death.
