There are large structural gaps in the employer-sponsored retirement system. I would like delve a bit into the kinds of workers who are left out, and why.

Testimony of Nari Rhee before the U.S. DOL ERISA Advisory Council Hearing. The US private sector employer-sponsored retirement system leaves out many workers, disproportionately impacting Blacks and Latinos. While some states have forged their own path to try to close this coverage gap, these efforts are limited in scope by ERISA preemption. Federal policy action is necessary so that all workers are covered by a plan that effectively prepares them for a financially secure retirement.

Testimony of Nari Rhee before the Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor on how the US retirement system can be strengthened and made more inclusive, so that all workers – regardless of race, gender, or class – can have economic security in retirement.

The persistent concentration of financial assets among the wealthiest families, combined with anemic retirement savings among most households, poses a significant economic threat to the retirement security of many working Americans.

In this data brief, we highlight the lack of retirement assets among private sector employees and working-age families in California based on the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey and 2014 Survey on Income and Program Participation. It turns out that California private sector workers are not merely behind on saving for retirement; half do not own retirement assets and most are currently not saving for retirement at all.

In order to have meaningful retirement security, America’s low-wage workers don’t just need an effective way to save—they also need a raise. The State of California is leading the way by providing both.

This study examines the separate and combined impacts of the $15 minimum wage policy and Secure Choice on the retirement income of California workers in the bottom half of the income distribution.

Republicans in Congress are trying to repeal Department of Labor (DOL) regulations that provide a safe harbor for states and large cities to sponsor retirement savings programs for private sector workers without running afoul of federal pension laws.

California enacted SB 1234 in 2016 authorizing implementation of the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program (Secure Choice) to help millions of workers save for retirement.

As a growing number of states move toward establishing retirement savings plans for private sector workers who lack access to an employer-sponsored plan, policymakers and stakeholders are very interested in plan cost. Will the program be self-sustaining? Can it charge fees that are low enough to be attractive to participants? What happens if enrollment falls short of assumptions?

This report examines the distinct challenges posed by the current retirement system of Social Security, pensions, and savings for working-age women, retirement-aged women, and retired women.

California faces a retirement crisis. As we documented in our 2011 volume, Meeting California’s Retirement Security Challenge, a large share of workers in the state are at risk of serious…

Final report for the Market Analysis, Financial Feasibility, and Program Design study for the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Plan as required by SB 1234.

With the senior population expected to grow by nearly two-thirds in the next two decades, and most workers unprepared for retirement, California faces a mounting retirement crisis. While the retirement…

The study analyzes workplace retirement plan coverage, retirement account ownership, and household retirement savings as a percentage of income, and estimates the share of working families that meet financial industry recommended benchmarks for retirement savings.

This Policy Brief broadly assesses the feasibility of such a plan by analyzing the private cost of guarantees, probable investment returns simulated through a hypothetical pension investment portfolio, and the long-term funded status of a hypothetical pension plan given conservative assumptions.

The purpose of this research brief is to outline the magnitude and character of the retirement plan coverage gap in California’s private sector and to analyze their implications for state policy aimed at improving retirement income security.

This paper outlines key choices in developing a state sponsored retirement system for private sector workers in California who lack access to a workplace pension.

Black workers face particularly severe challenges in building adequate financial wealth–whether through employer sponsored pensions, home equity, or other financial assets–to have enough retirement income in addition to Social Security to guarantee economic independence in old age.

This edited volume brings together rigorous academic and policy research to outline California workers’ retirement prospects in the context of threats to Social Security, the decline of secure workplace pensions, and the shift to risky individual investment accounts like 401(k)s.