Social Security income measurement in two surveys.

As a major source of income for retired persons in the United States, Social Security benefits directly influence economic well-being. That fact underscores the importance of measuring Social Security income accurately in household surveys. Using Social Security Administration (SSA) records, we examine Social Security income as reported in two Census Bureau surveys, the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) and the Current Population Survey (CPS). Although SSA usually deducts Medicare premiums from benefit payments, both the CPS and the SIPP aim to collect and record gross Social Security benefit amounts (before Medicare premium deductions). We find that the Social Security benefit recorded in the CPS closely approximates the gross benefit recorded for CPS respondents in SSA's records, but the Social Security benefit recorded in the SIPP more closely approximates SSA's record of net benefit payments (after deducting Medicare premiums).

The impact of retirement account distributions on measures of family income.

In recent decades, employers have increasingly replaced defined benefit (DB) pensions with defined contribution (DC) retirement accounts for their employees. DB plans provide annuities, or lifetime benefits paid at regular intervals. The timing and amounts of DC distributions, however, may vary widely. Most surveys that provide data on the family income of the aged either collect no data on nonannuity retirement account distributions, or exclude such distributions from their summary measures of family income. We use Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) data for 2009 to estimate the impact of including retirement account distributions on total family income calculations. We find that about one-fifth of aged families received distributions from retirement accounts in 2009. Measured mean income for those families would be about 15 percent higher and median income would be 18 percent higher if those distributions were included in the SIPP summary measure of family income.

Income replacement ratios in the Health and Retirement Study.

This article describes the income replacement ratio as a measure of retirement income adequacy and identifies several issues analysts must consider when calculating a replacement ratio. The article presents the income replacement ratios experienced by participants in the original sample cohort of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), who were born between 1931 and 1941. Replacement ratios are shown by the respondent's birth cohort, age when first classified as retired in the HRS, and preretirement income quartile. Median replacement ratios fall as the retirement period grows longer.

Shifting income sources of the aged.

Traditional defined benefit pensions, once a major source of retirement income, are increasingly giving way to tax-qualified defined contribution (DC) plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). This trend is likely to continue among future retirees who have worked in the private sector. This article discusses the implications of those trends for the measurement of retirement income. We conclude that Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS), one of the primary sources of income data, greatly underreports distributions from DC plans and IRAs, posing an increasing problem for measuring retirement income in the future. The CPS and other data sources need to revise their measures of retirement income to account for periodic (irregular) distributions from DC plans and IRAs.

Oil refinery wastewater treatment using physicochemical, Fenton and Photo-Fenton oxidation processes.

The objective of this study was to investigate the application of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) to the treatment of wastewaters contaminated with hydrocarbon oil. Three different oil-contaminated wastewaters were examined and compared: (i) a 'real' hydrocarbon wastewater collected from an oil refinery (Conoco-Phillips Whitegate refinery, County Cork, Ireland); (ii) a 'real' hydrocarbon wastewater collected from a car-wash facility located at a petroleum filling station; and (iii) a 'synthetic' hydrocarbon wastewater generated by emulsifying diesel oil and water. The AOPs investigated were Fe(2+)/H(2)O(2) (Fenton's reagent), Fe(2+)/H(2)O(2)/UV (Photo-Fenton's reagent) which may be used as an alternative to, or in conjunction with, conventional treatment techniques. Laboratory-scale batch and continuous-flow experiments were undertaken. The photo-Fenton parametric concentrations to maximize COD removal were optimized: pH = 3, H(2)O(2) = 400 mg/L, and Fe(2+) = 40 mg/L. In the case of the oil-refinery wastewater, photo-Fenton treatment achieved approximately 50% COD removal and, when preceded by physicochemical treatment, the percentage removal increased to approximately 75%.