October 2021
15Oct

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Precarious Aging: The Importance of an Equity Response

By Marc A. Garcia, Adriana M. Reyes & Catherine Garcia Older Black, Indigenous, and Latinx adults are at a higher risk of negative COVID-19 outcomes relative to older non-Latinx White adults. Mounting evidence regarding the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color lays bare the effects of long-standing and deeply rooted structural racism in American society. Residential and occupational segregation and unequal access to health-promoting resources such as education, income, wealth, and quality healthcare have exposed and amplified pre-existing...

October 15, 2021
Aging, Articles, , , ,
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15Oct

Gender Preferences in Job Vacancies and Workplace Gender Diversity

By David Card, Fabrizio Colella & Rafael Lalive In spring 2005, Austria launched a campaign to inform employers and newspapers that gender preferences in job advertisements were illegal. At the time over 40% of openings on the nation’s largest job-board specified a preferred gender. Over the next year the fraction fell to under 5%. We merge data on filled vacancies to linked employer-employee data to study how the elimination of gender preferences affected hiring and job outcomes. Prior to the...

October 15, 2021
Articles, Labor Market, , ,
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September 2021
29Sep

US. Bridging The Retirement Readiness Gap With Focused Financial Literacy

Most Americans are behind the curve when it comes to their retirement readiness. However, there’s a significant racial gap in retirement readiness — especially between white and non-white individuals. As of 2016, 48% of white Americans between the ages of 30 and 59 were projected to be unable to maintain their standard of living in retirement, compared to 54% of Black Americans and 61% of Hispanic Americans, according to an analysis by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston...

September 29, 2021
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29Sep

UK. How to give pension advice to same-sex couples in divorce

It is not uncommon for pension rights to represent a significant proportion of the matrimonial assets. Therefore, dealing with these rights in a way that ensures that both parties’ interests are best served may lead to some difficult and acrimonious discussions. The circumstances of each party may be such that finding a solution that suits both is elusive. Advisers are likely to be approached by the legal representatives of one party with a view to reaching an optimal solution for that party. In...

September 29, 2021
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28Sep

How to fix the gender pension gap

By Azka Ali, David Knox, Yvonne Sonsino The gender pension gap is a problem in most retirement income systems around the world. The causes and compounding effects are related to employment and pension design as well as socio-cultural issues. These issues need fixing at a multi-stakeholder level by HR and pension leaders, governments and women themselves. The gender pension gap exists in virtually every retirement income system around the world. The range is remarkable, with Japan having an almost 50%...

September 28, 2021
News, OP Ed, Slider,
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10Sep

The Surprising Ingredients of Swedish Success – Free Markets and Social Cohesion

By Nima Sanandaji Sweden did not become wealthy through social democracy, big government and a large welfare state. It developed economically by adopting free-market policies in the late 19th century and early 20th century. It also benefited from positive cultural norms, including a strong work ethic and high levels of trust. As late as 1950, Swedish tax revenues were still only around 21 per cent of GDP. The policy shift towards a big state and higher taxes occurred mainly during the...

September 10, 2021
Articles, Investment, Pension design, Pension Management, ,
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03Sep

Do Trade Unions Promote Age Diversity and Intergenerational Solidarity in the Workplace? A View from Canada and Israel

By Pnina Alon-Shenker, Lilach Lurie In this Article, the authors explore – through a survey of collective agreements, case law, unions’ constitutions and websites – how trade unions in Canada and Israel balance and effectively support the interests of older and young workers. While unions in both countries promote age diversity to some extent (Canadian unions more than Israeli unions), they do not take sufficient action to promote intergenerational solidarity and sometimes even inhibit solidarity between generations. The authors conclude...

September 3, 2021
Articles, Labor Market, , ,
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February 2020

28Feb

The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality

By Angus Deaton The world is a better place than it used to be. People are healthier, wealthier, and live longer. Yet the escapes from destitution by so many has left gaping inequalities between people and nations. In The Great Escape, Nobel Prize–winning economist Angus Deaton—one of the foremost experts on economic development and on poverty—tells the remarkable story of how, beginning 250 years ago, some parts of the world experienced sustained progress, opening up gaps and setting the...

February 28, 2020
Books, Sustainability, , ,
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December 2018

03Dec

Downhill from Here: Retirement Insecurity in the Age of Inequality

By Katherine S Newman As millions of Baby Boomers reach their golden years, the state of retirement in America is little short of a disaster. Nearly half the households with people aged 55 and older have no retirement savings at all. The real estate crash wiped out much of the home equity that millions were counting on to support their retirement. And the typical Social Security check covers less than 40% of pre-retirement wages--a number projected to drop to under...

December 3, 2018
Books, Pension design, Savings, ,
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