It is not clear how providing a tax deduction for property taxes would encourage people to stay in the work force. It is basically a windfall (not directly related to earnings). Economic theory would suggest that this would, if anything, encourage seniors to work less. (That is, leisure is a normal good. You consume more of it when your income rises.) End of economics lesson. If policymakers wanted to encourage older people to work, a better option would be to eliminate the Social Security earnings test, which discourages work for people who opt to collect Social Security benefits before the normal retirement age. They could also change pension rules to make it possible to collect retirement benefits without leaving one's career job. There are many other good suggestions for policy changes to encourage work at older ages here. (See page 23.)