Retirement Progress Reverses as Saving, Participation Rates Slip in 2025: Dayforce Report
According to new data released by Dayforce this week, retirement plan participation, savings rates, contributions, and loan use from retirement accounts all got worse in 2025.
The 2026 State of Retirement Savings report shows a workforce pulling back on saving for retirement after years of making progress—with middle-income earners feeling it most.
The report found retirement savings rates edged downward from 9.2% in 2024 to 8.9% in 2025, the first decline in 3 years. Participation rates ticked down slightly (from 78.6% in 2024 to 77.5% in 2025), while loan use from retirement accounts rose for the third year in a row—and is now 20% higher than in 2022. It rose from 16.7% in 2024 to 18.6% in 2025.
More than one in four workers (26%) who have actively saved for retirement reduced their individual contributions last year. And the impacts of all these findings were most pronounced among workers earning between $50,000 and $150,000 a year.
On the positive side, the report found Gen Z bucked the trend across the board—participation, savings rate, and total contributions all rose while every other generation pulled back in 2025.
“Overall, trends in retirement savings since 2022 have been decidedly mixed. While overall savings rates and annual contributions rose slightly, participation declined slightly,” writes Dayforce Global Head of Sustainability and Impact Jason Rahlan. “During that same time, loan use increased by over 20%. Critically, each of the four has worsened over the past year—a clear sign that recent progress has either stalled or reversed.”
Minneapolis-based human capital management technology leader Dayforce says its State of Retirement Savings 2026 provides one of the most comprehensive views available of retirement participation, savings rates, contributions, and loan use across the entire full-time U.S. workforce over the past four years. It provides highly detailed insights by gender, race and ethnicity, age, and income. Notably, the analysis includes workers who do participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan as well as those who don’t.
More key findings
• Income disparities are particularly stark. Participation, total contributions, and overall savings rates have declined for workers earning under $150,000 annually, with the greatest changes for middle-income earners. Employees in lower income bands save a fraction of what higher earners contribute and maintain savings rates well below recommended thresholds.
• Gender gaps persist. Men continue to save significantly more for retirement each year than women: $1,890 more from employer and employee contributions in 2025 alone. This means that women put aside just 72 cents per dollar that men do for retirement.
• Racial and ethnic disparities remain substantial. The total savings rate for White workers is significantly higher than for Black and Latino workers: 10.1% compared to 6% and 4.7%, respectively. Asian participants have the highest total savings rate at 10.4%. Black and Latino plan participants are also nearly twice as likely as White participants to carry an active loan from a retirement account.
Check out the State of Retirement Savings 2026 report here.
SEE ALSO:
• Racial Gaps Persist in Retirement Savings
• Americans Driven to Course Correct Financial Decisions
• Americans Predict Needing $1.46M in Retirement
Veteran financial services industry journalist Brian Anderson joined 401(k) Specialist as Managing Editor in January 2019. He has led editorial content for a variety of well-known properties including Insurance Forums, Life Insurance Selling, National Underwriter Life & Health, and Senior Market Advisor. He has always maintained a focus on providing readers with timely, useful information intended to help them build their business.