RELAB POLICY NOTE | A brief analysis of the 2022 round of the Survey of Consumer Finance indicates that the middle 70% of households by income that are aged 50-65 have a median retirement account savings of $86,000, while also having a median debt of $89,700. 

POLICY NOTE | Since March 2020, the size of the retired population in the U.S. expanded beyond its normal trend by an additional 1.7 million people.¹

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 REPORT | New research shows regardless of the data source, retirement plan participation is low and stagnating.

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.

CHARTBOOK | ReLab's chartbook documenting retirement insecurity and the decline in older workers' bargaining power is a resource for workers, employers, media, policymakers, scholars, and the broader public to answer questions about the state of older working America and retirement income security.

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 ARTICLE | A retirement crisis looms as the labor market becomes less friendly to older workers when they are most numerous and least able to retire.

RELAB ARTICLE | The stratification economics framework may best clarify the causes of racial health disparities and help to develop policy solutions.

RELAB ARTICLE | A realistic look at the disempowered status of America’s older workers and their rocky path to a secure retirement.

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.

WORKING PAPER | 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.