Pandemic to Force Millions of Retirees into Poverty: Report

401k, poverty, DC plans, New School

Panic or possibility?

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession will force an additional 3.1 million older workers to “experience deprivation,” which will come on top of the millions that are already likely to fall into poverty due to America’s supposedly broken retirement system, according to a new report from the New School’s Retirement Equity Lab (ReLab).

“Older workers are the canary in the coal mine for how the COVID-19 recession affects Americans’ retirement prospects,” ReLab Director Teresa Ghilarducci—a longtime critic of 401k and similar defined contribution plans—said in a statement.

Ghilarducci used the findings to call for the creation of universal pensions for all workers in order to prevent it from happening to future generations.

The report claimed all 67 million older workers will see a 7% to 9% percentage point drop in their retirement replacement rates. The numbers show “that middle-class workers are hit by both market loss and job loss, while some high earners will experience dramatic falls into poverty.”

THE FULL REPORT CAN BE FOUND HERE.

April’s federal jobs report revealed what the New School referred to as a staggering 13.6% rate for workers over 55, ReLab noted. The fastest-growing share of the labor force, older workers face a distinct disadvantage when recessions hit—no time to recover.

Major findings

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