Survivorship

Social security now provides survivorship benefits for dependents of qualified workers. These benefits seem appropriate for retirement-aged surviving spouses, but I propose restricting survivorship benefits for working-aged adults. Working-aged spouses would be allowed to collect benefits for no more than, say, five years, and children could collect benefits until age eighteen (age twenty-two for full-time students). These provisions would restore college benefits for children but require that spouses adjust to their new circumstances within a fixed period.