RELAB POLICY NOTE | After a partial recovery between May and August, older workers’ labor force participation rate fell continuously, reaching its lowest point of the recession in January.

RELAB POLICY NOTE | COVID-19 and the resulting recession has made older workers — especially older people of color and low-income seniors — even more vulnerable to the systemic flaws of our failed retirement system.

RELAB REPORT | New research shows that even before the COVID-19 recession, only 36% of workers ages 25-64 were participating in a retirement plan at work, a five percentage point decrease from five years prior.

RELAB POLICY NOTE | Workers at all earnings levels would benefit from expanding Social Security. SCEPA proposes defaulting workers into “Catch-Up” contributions, where— starting at age 50— they would contribute an additional 3.1% of their salary.

RELAB POLICY NOTE | Older workers are more likely than younger workers to think they can’t find a job comparable to their current one, a well-founded fear that persists at every earnings level and reflects the reality of an unfriendly labor market.

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.