April 2022
21Apr

UK. Workplace pension of £65,400 in public sector six times more than private average

The number of people saving in workplace pensions has risen slightly, with the average pension value standing at £65,400 in the public sector compared to just £10,300 in the private sector. Overall, 79% of eligible employees, or 22.6 million, were participating in a workplace pension in April 2021, up slightly from 78% in 2020, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS said that the growth was partly explained by “increased public sector employment driven by the government's response...

April 21, 2022
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Movements In and Out of Poverty at Older Ages: Evidence from the HRS
14Apr

Movements In and Out of Poverty at Older Ages: Evidence from the HRS

By Robert L. Clark, Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell The objective of this paper is to determine Americans’ mobility patterns into and out of poverty in their later years. We track how older adults enter into and exit from poverty using the most extensive longitudinal survey on older Americans currently available, the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Using over 20 years of data from the HRS, we show that the conditional probability of escaping poverty diminishes as the number...

April 14, 2022
Aging, Articles, System Characterization, , ,
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Labor Marcket Search, Informality, and Schooling Investmets
14Apr

Labor Market Search, Informality, and Schooling Investmets

By Matteo Bobba, Luca Flabbi & Santiago Levy We develop a search and matching model where jobs can be formal or informal. Workers choose schooling and search for jobs. Firms post vacancies in each schooling market and decide the job's formality status. Upon meeting, workers and firms bargain over wages. The equilibrium size of the informal sector is an endogenous function of labor market fundamentals and institutions. We estimate the model using labor force survey data from Mexico and exploiting the...

April 14, 2022
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14Apr

Germany set for bumper pension hike amid inflation surge

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition Cabinet on Wednesday gave the green light to the largest hike in pensions in more than a generation. The decision was made against a backdrop of rampant inflation, with pensions in Germany adjusted each year based on the national average salary. It also comes after some pensioners received no increase last year as the coronavirus pandemic battered the economy. How big is the increase? Pensions in states that made up the former West Germany, where there was no...

April 14, 2022
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Wealth After Work Innovative Reforms to Expand Retirement Security
11Apr

Wealth After Work Innovative Reforms to Expand Retirement Security

By William G. Gale, J. Mark Iwry, & David C. John Pensions and retirement saving plans have helped millions of households build financial security. But tens of millions of people have been left behind, without access to these wealth accumulation vehicles. For many others, the plans they have do not ensure financial security in retirement. The problems that underlie these failures can be addressed. This book proposes concrete, practical ways to make dependable retirement income accessible for all Americans—not just those...

April 11, 2022
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Heterogeneity in Household Spending and Well-being around Retirement
11Apr

Heterogeneity in Household Spending and Well-being around Retirement

By Patrick Moran, Martin O'Connell, Cormac O'Dea, Francesca Parodi & Michigan Retirement and Disability Research Submitter. We study heterogeneity in spending patterns around the time of retirement. Using rich consumption data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, and exploiting within-household spending variation, we systematically classify households into groups characterized by differences in consumption transitions at retirement. We decompose the overall spending changes into the contribution made by different subcomponents of consumption. We find that the households that increase their...

April 11, 2022
Adequacy, Articles, ,
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UK. Benefits and state pension increase outpaced by rising prices
11Apr

UK. Benefits and state pension increase outpaced by rising prices

A 3.1% rise in the state pension and various benefits has now taken effect but charities have warned it fails to tackle cost of living pressures. Official figures show that prices are rising twice as fast, and they are expected accelerate further. Read also UK. Can retirement savers make their pension greener? The government said it recognised people's difficulties and was helping. Late last year, ministers decided to temporarily cut the state pension's link to average earnings, which would have led to an...

April 11, 2022
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March 2022

¿Cómo ajustan los hogares sus ingresos, ahorros y consumo después de la partida de los hijos?
25Mar

How Do Households Adjust Their Earnings, Saving, and Consumption After Children Leave?

By Andrew G. Biggs, Anqi Chen & Alicia H. Munnell Whether parents adjust their consumption after their children leave home has important implications for our understanding of retirement income adequacy. Prior studies have found that parents reduce consumption after their children become independent, allowing them to save more for retirement. Other studies, however, have found that savings for retirement does not increase. If households are both consuming less but not saving more after the children leave, where are the resources...

March 25, 2022
Articles, Pension design, , ,
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23Mar

Affordable childcare the key to boosting women’s retirement savings

More affordable early childhood education and care could help boost the superannuation of Australian women, who are currently retiring with one third less super than men. According to a new report from Industry Super Australia, increasing the child care subsidy for low- and middle-income families to 95 per cent and flattening taper rates, could see a woman on the median wage, if she moved from part-time to full-time work, retire with an extra $118,000. Industry Super Australia says improving women’s workforce...

March 23, 2022
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21Mar

UK. ‘Pensioner poverty’ alarm as older people raid pension pots

Older people face the prospect of “pensioner poverty” due to the rising cost of living and the falling value of the stock market, it has been claimed. Figures from online investment platform Interactive Investor show its customers withdrew a quarter more from their private pensions in January as the cost of energy, food and petrol went up. The figures have prompted concern that pensioners will not have enough money to see them through retirement. In January, the average withdrawal from an Interactive...

March 21, 2022
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