Research
High rents increasingly becoming a driver of financial fragility for low-income older households
Policy Note | In the United States, high overall rates of home ownership among households aged 55–64 obscure a vital reality. Many low-income older households risk financial fragility because they are renters and high rent burdens inhibit their ability to save for emergencies. Even middle- and high-income households who own their own homes risk housing-related financial fragility due to high mortgage debt. Overall rates of financial fragility, which include non-housing debt and emergency...
Policy Note | Unpaid care work — the vast majority of such work in the United States — is primarily shouldered by economically vulnerable people. The costs associated with unpaid care work compound existing economic insecurity, leading to higher rates of poverty in old age. It is essential to support informal caregivers by recognizing caregiving as work and expanding their access to social safety net programs and providing paid family care leave.
Policy Note | Up to 40 percent of middle-income workers are at risk of downward mobility into poverty or near-poverty in retirement because of an inefficient retirement system that disproportionately benefits those with high incomes. Universal retirement accounts and providing workers with more equitable and better targeted tax incentives are among the best methods to supplement Social Security and prevent downward mobility in retirement.
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.
Workers in low-wage households are more likely to experience economic shocks and to withdraw from their retirement accounts, exacerbating pre-existing inequalities in the retirement savings system.
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.
Working paper— Social Security benefits are progressive and reduce the unequal distribution of retirement wealth generated by a broken employer-based retirement system. This study identifies what is driving the loss of bargaining power suppressing older workers' wages.
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. This article has been accepted for publication in a revised form in the journal of Pension Economics and Finance. Our corresponding policy note, "Extreme Inequality is Persistent, Even Among Those With Similar Earnings," discusses policies to address the inequalities baked into our system.
The rates of elder poverty among widows and single women are higher than among couples and men.
