Document Type
Working Paper
Date of this Version
9-1-2011
Abstract
This study examines the long-run effects of the Great Recession on future retirement incomes for working-age adults using a microsimulation model. We estimate that the recession will reduce average age-70 annual incomes by four percent. Retirement incomes will fall most sharply for those workers who were youngest when the recession began. They are most likely to have lost their jobs and the impact of lower wages will accumulate over their entire careers. High-income retirees with the most to lose will also see substantial absolute income declines, but their losses are not particularly large when measured relative to their projected incomes.
Keywords
Retirement income, unemployment, recession, Social Security, pension, wealth, labor earnings
Working Paper Number
WP2011-08
Copyright/Permission Statement
Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors alone, and not those of any institution with which the authors are affiliated. ©2011 Pension Research Council of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. All rights reserved.
Acknowledgements
Financial support via a grant from the Social Security Administration (SSA) as part of the Retirement Research Consortium (RRC) is gratefully acknowledged.
Date Posted: 28 June 2019
Comments
The published version of this Working Paper may be found in the 2012 publication: Reshaping Retirement Security: Lessons from the Global Financial Crisis.