RELAB WORKING PAPER | This essay surveys global pension developments and intellectual basis for pension reform in the last 40 years.

RELAB WORKING PAPER | When we examine unemployment and discouraged workers, are we getting the full picture? A deeper dive into the data suggests that official rates of unemployment are missing millions of people.

RELAB WORKING PAPER | Unpaid eldercare provided by friends and family comes with costs to caregivers, including the limitations eldercare responsibilities may place on labor force participation and work hours.

RELAB WORKING PAPER | Since 1992 wealth for the bottom 90% of households nearing retirement has fallen. Using SCF and HRS data over 20 years, we find the bulk of working-class wealth is government social insurance.

RELAB WORKING PAPER | This article documents risks and disparities among older workers in the labor force and in retirement preparedness and explores the links between labor market challenges facing older workers and retirement insecurity.

RELAB WORKING PAPER | Social Security “Catch-Up” contributions would allow workers to contribute an additional 3.1 percent of salary, starting at age 50, in return for enhanced benefits. The program would modestly reduce defacto elderly poverty and reduce the Social Security shortfall in the short run and be approximately actuarially neutral over 75 years.

RELAB WORKING PAPER | This paper explores how Covid-19 affected the employment and retirement patterns of older workers, with special attention to the distribution of pandemic impacts on those 55 and older.

RELAB WORKING PAPER | Contrary to the predictions of theoretical models, working longer does not significantly increase the share of older workers who are financially prepared for retirement.

RELAB WORKING PAPER | Social Security benefits are progressive and reduce the unequal distribution of retirement wealth generated by a broken employer-based retirement systeThe Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) can cause wage declines for workers who do not receive the tax credit. 

RELAB WORKING PAPER | This study evaluates a Social Security "Catch-Up" contribution program, a proposal which would help mid-career workers narrow the gap between what they need in retirement and their projected retirement wealth. 

RELAB WORKING PAPER | Social Security benefits are progressive and reduce the unequal distribution of retirement wealth generated by a broken employer-based retirement system.

RELAB WORKING PAPER | ReLab's study of retirement wealth inequality between 1992 and 2010 finds that the retirement system is failing everyone, with those at the bottom suffering the most.

RELAB WORKING PAPER | ReLab's new report, "Disparities & Erosion in New York’s Workplace Retirement Coverage," documents two trends in retirement plan coverage.

RELAB WORKING PAPER | Using data from the Survey for Income and Program Participation (SIPP), this study investigates the relationship between withdrawals from 401(k) and IRA accounts and household level economic shocks such as job-loss, job change, divorce, and the onset of poor health.

RELAB WORKING PAPER | The recent proliferation of state level retirement reform proposals indicates a broad recognition of the looming retirement crisis and suggests that political will for reform is present.

RELAB WORKING PAPER | The number of earnings shocks people experience - job loss, divorce, health emergencies, etc - differs by income level, contributing to inequality in retirement wealth.

RELAB WORKING PAPER | About a quarter of people with long-term care insurance let their policies lapse before they die.

RELAB WORKING PAPER | This paper finds that negative economic shocks cause 401(k) contribution behavior to react in ways consistent with reactions to fear and past trauma.

RELAB WORKING PAPER | This research was performed pursuant to a grant from the AARP Innovation Challenge.

RELAB WORKING PAPER | Older women face worse age discrimination than men in the labor market.