February 2022
17Feb

Racial Wealth Disparities: Reconsidering the Roles of Human Capital and Inheritance

By John Edward Sabelhaus, Jeffrey P. Thompson In this paper, we present updated measures of racial disparities in wealth using the most recent data from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), augmented by household-level estimates of defined benefit (DB) pension wealth developed by Sabelhaus and Volz (2020). Including this important asset, we find that racial wealth disparities are smaller than the numbers typically discussed in other research or in the media, but the disparities remain substantial. The paper proceeds by...

February 17, 2022
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15Feb

UK. Women face gap of £7,500 per year and state pension delay

The gender gap in terms of pensions, savings and earnings is a palpable one which can impact women for their entire lives. But it could rear its ugly head even more so in later life, as women face the reality of scrimping and saving just to make ends meet. Founder and CEO of Unbiased, Karen Barrett, spoke exclusively to Express.co.uk to highlight the issues facing women. She said: “A generation of women near retirement is facing the reality that they won’t...

February 15, 2022
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14Feb

US. Pension plans increasing their focus on allocating to diverse asset managers

U.S. pension funds are allocating more to diverse money managers and taking more steps to measure how their assets are allocated and articulate formal policies on their processes. This is the second year Pensions & Investments has surveyed the top 200 U.S. retirement plans regarding defined benefit plan assets managed by money management firms owned by women, minorities, people with disabilities and veterans. As of Sept. 30, respondents said a total $120.7 billion was managed by WMDV-owned managers, up from $68.4...

February 14, 2022
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January 2022
07Jan

US. Pandemic’s impact on retirement savings varies by geography, gender and age

Nearly every American has felt the impact of the pandemic on the ability to save for retirement. “Retirement is expensive, and Americans were struggling to save enough money for it long before the pandemic,” according to a report from The Penny Hoarder on its recent survey. “The economic turmoil of the pandemic underscored some critical lessons about investing for the long term, including keeping calm during turbulent markets and using market slumps as an opportunity to invest when prices are...

January 7, 2022
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06Jan

Racial Inequality in Unemployment Insurance Receipt and Take-Up

By Elira Kuka & Bryan A. Stuart This paper studies differences in receipt and take-up of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits among white and Black individuals. We combine state-level UI regulations with data containing detailed information on individuals’ work history and UI receipt. Black individuals who separate from a job are 24% less likely to receive UI than whites. The UI receipt gap stems primarily from lower take-up of UI benefits among likely eligible individuals, as opposed to differences in benefit...

January 6, 2022
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03Jan

Private climate investment needs to get intentional about gender and equity — here’s how

By Suzanne Biegel The private capital committed by members of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) has the potential to transform climate investments. Yet climate investment decision-makers don’t reflect the diversity we need for a just transition. They are therefore likely to overlook the women outside of their networks driving many solutions. Read also ESG Investing Is Not Sustainable Investing This is true in both developed and developing markets. Growing research shows that having more women in decision-making positions results...

January 3, 2022
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December 2021
13Dec

US. Senate democrats Call for End to Retirement Plan Discrimination Against Same-Sex Couples

A group of 45 Senate Democrats are urging the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service to revise old guidance that permits retirement plans to discriminate against same-sex couples. Yesterday, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and 43 of their Senate Democratic colleagues sent a letter to Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service Charles...

December 13, 2021
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03Dec

The Gender Gap in Pensions in the EU

By Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini & Istituto per la Ricerca Sociale Pensions are an important determinant of their beneficiaries’ economic independence. When examining independence for people of working age, we are led naturally to think about the gender pay gap. Focusing on gaps in pensions would be the natural follow-up (or sequel) to an interest in gender pay gaps. Those gaps would reflect the cumulated disadvantages of a career spent in a gender-biased labour market. This is even more true for older...

December 3, 2021
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03Dec

Elderly Poverty and its Measurement

By Yoko Niimi & Charles Yuji Horioka This paper examines various aspects of elderly poverty and its measurement. It first discusses some of the most important issues relating to measuring elderly poverty. It then reviews recent trends in elderly poverty, which show considerable heterogeneity in the extent of elderly poverty even among developed countries. Such cross-country differences are due at least partly to differences in the generosity of public old-age pensions and other social safety nets for the elderly. Empirical...

December 3, 2021
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October 2021
15Oct

Gender Inequality in Retirement Savings

By Dr David Knox, Michael Rice and Richard Dunn Over the last twenty years, there has been increasing interest in the reasons for the gap between the average male and female retirement balances. This gap, known as the gender pension gap1, is characterised by the fact that, on average, women tend to live on a lower income in retirement than men. It is usually measured by combining all sources of retirement income, whether public or private, pay-as-you-go or funded. In this...

October 15, 2021
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