Bernard L. and Irene Schwartz Chair of Economics, New School for Social Research

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Unstable or Low-Wage Jobs Make Up More than Half of Older Workers’ Job Growth

April 2018 Unemployment Report for Workers Over 55

May 6, 2018 • by Teresa Ghilarducci

The Bureau of Labor Statistics today reported a 3.0% unemployment rate for workers age 55 and older in April, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points since March. While this number is low, we continue to hear stories of older workers struggling in the modern economy, such as Doug Schifter, a livery cab driver in ...

Unstable or Low-Wage Jobs Make Up More than Half of Older Workers’ Job Growth

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Older Black Workers Face More Risk in Economic Downturns

March 2018 Unemployment Report for Workers Over 55

April 8, 2018 • by Teresa Ghilarducci

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) today reported a 3.2% unemployment rate for workers age 55 and older in March, a rate unchanged since February. For decades, economists have documented that the racial gap in unemployment rates is widest at the depth of a recession and narrowest right before the economy goes into recession. In ...

Older Black Workers Face More Risk in Economic Downturns

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Wage Increases Leave Women and Older Workers Behind

February 2018 unemployment report for workers over 55

March 12, 2018 • by Teresa Ghilarducci

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) today reported a 3.2% unemployment rate for workers age 55 and older in February, an increase of 0.2 percentage points from January. While low unemployment is finally leading to wage increases for some prime-age men, women and older workers are being left behind. In the last year, ...

Wage Increases Leave Women and Older Workers Behind

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40% of Older Workers and Their Spouses Will Experience Downward Mobility

A SCEPA report

February 17, 2018 • by Teresa Ghilarducci

Inadequate retirement accounts will cause 8.5 million middle-class older workers and their spouses to be downwardly mobile, falling into poverty or near poverty in their old age. Key Findings: Two in five - or 40% - of older workers and their spouses will be downwardly mobile in retirement. If workers ages ...

40% of Older Workers and Their Spouses Will Experience Downward Mobility

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Top 5 Cities Where Older Workers’ Wages Fell and Younger Workers’ Wages Soared

January 2018 Unemployment Report for Workers Over 55

February 6, 2018 • by Teresa Ghilarducci

President Trump in his State of the Union address highlighted the country's falling unemployment and rising wages. This morning's Bureau of Labor Statistics' report of an unemployment rate of 3.0% for workers age 55 and older for the month of January, a decrease of 0.3 percentage points from December, does not contradict ...

Top 5 Cities Where Older Workers’ Wages Fell and Younger Workers’ Wages Soared

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3.2 Million Older Workers Trapped in Unemployment

December 2017 Unemployment Report for Workers Over 55

January 10, 2018 • by Teresa Ghilarducci

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an unemployment rate of 3.3% for workers age 55 and older for the month of December, an increase of 0.2 percentage points from November. While this headline unemployment rate is still at historic lows, it only counts as unemployed those who actively sought employment in the ...

3.2 Million Older Workers Trapped in Unemployment

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State Retirement Reform

Lifting Up Best Practices

December 24, 2017 • by Teresa Ghilarducci

In only six years, from 2011 to 2017: 40 states proposed bipartisan retirement reform to provide private-sector workers retirement coverage; 9 states enacted retirement reform; and 2 states have programs up and running. Since Trump's inauguration, 22 states proposed reform and Vermont signed it into law. In the 9 states that enacted plans, 3.5 ...

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The Precarious Economic Lives of Older Women Workers

November 2017 Unemployment Report for Workers Over 55

December 12, 2017 • by Teresa Ghilarducci

Almost half (48%) of older working women without a college degree are working in low-paying jobs - earning less than $15 an hour - compared to 29% of similarly situated men.1Older women without a college degree earn a median hourly wage of $15.50 compared to $18.75 for men. One reason older women work ...

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Older Workers’ Gender Gap in Paid vs Unpaid Work Hurts Women’s Retirement Savings

October 2017 Unemployment Report for Workers Over 55

November 5, 2017 • by Teresa Ghilarducci

Both men and women ages 55-64 spend the same amount of time working each week -- 47.9 hours a week for men and 48 hours a week for women -- including both paid work in the labor market and unpaid household work. But of this total, men spend more time in ...

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GOP Tax Plan Fails to Reform Regressive Retirement Tax Breaks

September Unemployment Report for Workers Over 55

October 6, 2017 • by Teresa Ghilarducci

It's no surprise that older workers have little retirement savings ($12,000 on average). This is despite the $180 billion in tax breaks a year to encourage people to save for retirement. That's because these tax breaks are highly regressive, giving 66% of the benefits to those in the top 20% of the income ...

Politics

Near-Retirees at All Incomes Are Almost 1/3 Short of Target Retirement Savings

August Unemployment Report for Workers Over 55

September 2, 2017 • by Teresa Ghilarducci

Low-, middle-, and high-income near retirees are almost one-third short of the savings they need to maintain their standard of living in retirement. ReLab's new report using just-released government data documents that the median level of retirement savings in IRAs and 401(k)-type plans among workers ages 55-64 is $15,000. When workers who do not ...

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One out of Four Older Workers Lack Employer Provided Health Insurance

July Unemployment Report for Workers Over 55

August 8, 2017 • by Teresa Ghilarducci

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) today reported a 3.2% unemployment rate for workers age 55 and older in July, no change from June. While the low unemployment rate may indicate a healthy labor market for older workers, it doesn't tell us about job quality. Only 76% of older workers obtain health insurance through their ...