Research
U.S. Caregiving System Leaves Significant Unmet Needs Among Aging Adults
Policy Note | America’s eldercare system relies on families to provide care to aging adults, leaving those without family or wealth particularly vulnerable to having their care needs go unmet. 8.3 million people, or 42 percent of adults who have difficulty with tasks like getting dressed, using the toilet, or preparing meals did not receive any help in 2020 (the latest data available). Older adults who do not get the care they need face higher negative health outcomes and disability levels....
Policy Note | The Social Security benefit structure penalizes people who claim before age 70. Yet over one-fifth of eligible people claim before their full retirement age (age 67 for those born in 1960), and over 90 percent claim before the maximum age of 70, resulting in reduced monthly benefits. While many claim early out of necessity, financial advisors often recommend to those with retirement savings to spend down their savings before tapping into Social Security to increase their lifetime monthly benefit. However, few people have professional advisors. A Social Security Bridge option that is formalized, accessible, and easy to understand would allow beneficiaries to boost monthly benefits and help protect against downward mobility in retirement. This bridge, while important for many, is not a relevant for those with little to no retirement savings. Thus, we also advocate for increasing the Social Security minimum benefit to ensure adequate lifetime retirement income for the over 63 million Americans who will retire without any retirement savings.
This report documents the growth in older workers’ unstable and low-wage jobs from 2005 to 2015. By 2015, nearly 25% of older workers were in bad jobs.
This report demonstrates how low and decreasing retirement plan coverage rates and the shift from traditional defined benefit pension plans to 401(k)-type plans are threatening New Yorkers’ financial readiness for retirement.
Older workers have not been able to save adequately for retirement.
Conventional economic analysis depicts the jobs market as finite, assuming immigration lowers wages and job prospects for American workers.
Inadequate retirement accounts will cause 8.5 million middle-class older workers and their spouses to be downwardly mobile, falling into poverty or near poverty in their old age.
While heralding the bipartisan effort and innovation of active states, ReLab's new report, "State Retirement Reform: Lifting Up Best Practices," seeks to broaden options for future legislation by raising up best practices from the movement's early leaders.
Financialized retirement systems, like defined contribution (DC) plans in the U.S., shift market risk away from employers and governments to individuals.
