July 2024

Breaking the Vicious Circles of Informal Employment and Low-Paying Work

By Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development This report adds two perspectives on informality. First, it disassembles the mechanics of the deleterious links between informal employment, low-paying work and low skills. It shows that informal employment is highly persistent, and that the vulnerability of informal workers is passed on to their children in the absence of adequate education, skills and social protection policy. Second, the report underscores the double burden of informality and low-paying work that a large share of...

2024 Pension adequacy report: Current and future income adequacy in old age in the EU

By European Union  The report’s main focus is on old-age pension systems. It looks primarily at statutory pensions, incorporating the adequacy contribution of supplementary pensions where relevant. The report also looks at the role of survivors’ pensions in providing adequate old-age income for surviving spouses. In the context of its analysis of income inequalities and redistribution mechanisms, the report also considers minimum income provision for older people and how taxation affects income distribution in old age. Given the importance of services...

Career Expectations and Outcomes: Evidence (on Gender Gaps) from the Economics Job Market

By Brooke Helppie McFall, Eric D. Parolin & Basit Zafar This paper investigates gender gaps in long-term career expectations and outcomes of PhD candidates in economics. For this purpose, we match rich survey data on PhD candidates (from the 2008-2010 job market cohorts) to public data on job histories and publication records through 2022. We document four novel empirical facts: (1) there is a robust gender gap in career expectations, with females about 10 percentage points less likely to ex-ante expect to get...

June 2024

LGBT Workers in the Labor Market

By Caroline Medina, Lindsay Mahowald & Rose Khattar The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing economic crisis resulted in significant hardship for people across the country: Tens of millions of people lost their jobs, unemployment rates increased, and economic activity declined. To mitigate these economic impacts, federal policymakers enacted multiple relief bills, including the American Rescue Plan Act. These investments shortened the recession in the wake of the pandemic and have helped propel a historic economic recovery resulting in the most jobs...

Retirement Confidence Survey and the LGBTQ Community

By Craig Copeland (Employee Benefit Research Institute) & Lisa Greenwald (Greenwald Research) The Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) was conducted for its 32nd year in 2022 to measure attitudes of American workers and retirees about issues surrounding retirement. For the first time, in 2022, the RCS included an oversample of LGBTQ Americans to allow for an analysis of the challenges that LGBTQ workers and retirees face in preparing for and living in retirement. Questions included in this year’s survey explore priorities...

A Wealth of Well-Being: A Holistic Approach to Behavioral Finance

By Meir Statman I often note that the biggest risks in life are not in the stock market. If you want real risk, I say, get married. And if you want more risk, have children. People laugh, because the point is obvious. Yet that point is regularly lost when we speak about financial well-being, neglecting life well-being. I was motivated to write my book, “A Wealth of Well-Being, by reflecting on my own financial and life well-being and those of...

May 2024

Live Longer and Healthier: Impact of Pension Income for Low-Income Retirees

By Chiara Malavasi & Han Ye We estimate the effect of additional pension income on mortality outcomes by exploring the eli- gibility criteria of a German program subsidizing the pensions of low-wage workers. Using novel administrative data, we find that eligibility leads to a 2-month delay in age at death (censored at 75). Survey evidence suggests that additional pension income improves both mental and physical health. In addition, individuals feel less financially constrained and are more optimistic about their future....

Nigeria. Retired police officers protest unpaid pension in Abuja

RETIRED police officers in Nigeria under the contributory pension scheme, on Tuesday, May 21, expressed their displeasure over several months of unpaid pensions. The retired officers stormed the National Assembly in Abuja, to protest the “severe hardships” they had faced due to the alleged failure of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) to pay their entitlements. The retirees representing various state chapters called on the federal government to remove them from the Contributory Pension Scheme. The retirees, seen with various placards, lamented being...

The stunning financial benefits of working just one year longer

By Jordan Rosenfeld   By the time you reach your mid-fifties you might already be looking ahead to that wonderful day when you can retire, even if it’s a decade away. It’s natural to feel a sense of urgency when you’ve been working a long time and, by the time you hit 60, you might barely be able to contain yourself from jumping ship at 62 — the earliest age you can take Social Security. However, according to Chris Urban — a CFP and...

Middle-aged and Older Adult Employment and the Perceived Risk of Running Out of Money during COVID-19: A Dynamic Panel Data Analysis

By Andy Sharma  The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) adversely impacted the health of middle-aged and older adults and altered their economic outlook. Several national polls revealed older adults felt stress about money and many reported difficulties in paying expenses during 2021. While such descriptive reports have raised awareness, peer-reviewed studies utilizing panel data can offer additional insight. As such, the purpose of this study was to contribute to this growing literature by examining the demographic, economic, and health factors...