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Work, Retire, Repeat
The Uncertainty of Retirement in the New Economy
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Preface by:
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2024
About this book
A damning portrait of the dire realities of retirement in the United States—and how we can fix it.
While the French went on strike in 2023 to protest the increase in the national retirement age, workers in the United States have all but given up on the notion of dignified retirement for all. Instead, Americans—whose elders face the highest risk of poverty compared to workers in peer nations—are fed feel-good stories about Walmart clerks who can finally retire because a customer raised the necessary funds through a GoFundMe campaign.
Many argue that the solution to the financial straits of American retirement is simple: people need to just work longer. Yet this call to work longer is misleading in a multitude of ways, including its endangering of the health of workers and its discrimination against people who work in lower-wage occupations. In Work, Retire, Repeat, Teresa Ghilarducci tells the stories of elders locked into jobs—not because they love to work but because they must.
But this doesn’t need to be the reality. Work, Retire, Repeat shows how relatively low-cost changes to how we finance and manage retirement will allow people to truly choose how they spend their golden years.
Author / Editor information
Teresa Ghilarducci is professor of economics and policy analysis at the New School for Social Research in New York City. She serves as the director of the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis and the New School’s Retirement Equity Lab (ReLab). She also writes a regular column for Forbes’s #RetireWell blog.
Reviews
"Retirement inequality is on the rise and is causing anger and democratic resentment among working classes in many countries. This fascinating book puts the central issue of retirement inequality at the forefront of political discussion. A must read."
— Thomas Piketty | author of "Capital in the Twenty-First Century"“Work, Retire, Repeat shows the risks and decisions facing older workers today and the economic forces this complexity creates. Ghilarducci's analysis is packed with facts and original ideas for both change and how to live with today's system in the meantime. Work, Retire, Repeat may prove to be as influential as Stuart Chase’s 1932 book A New Deal."
— Robert Shiller | recipient of the 2013 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics“Compared to workers in equally wealthy countries, Americans work much longer. We work more hours per week, take fewer vacations, and look ahead to a late, financially insecure retirement. Ghilarducci convincingly and heartrendingly shows that so many of us who find ourselves unable to afford to retire didn’t plan for this, but rather find out after the fact that others had punched holes in the financial buckets we thought were being filled for our retirement.”
— Brad DeLong | author of "Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century""Ghilarducci presents a grim view of the current ominous realities of retirement in the United States and offers recommendations for improvement. . . She shares true stories of people locked into jobs not because they love to work but because they must, and her meticulous research analyzes how working longer does little to improve retirement security and inadequate pensions. . . This highly recommended book focuses on middle- and lower-income people who do not have millions in their retirement accounts and who are particularly concerned about the retirement possibilities that their children and grandchildren will have."
— Library Journal (starred review)"America's retirement system is failing too many people. . . .Economist Teresa Ghilarducci, in her new (highly recommended) book discusses reform proposals, including several she co-authored. . .It's high time for at least one of these well-designed and affordable ideas to become law. . . .Ghilarducci offers a potential blueprint for action for policymakers and citizens."
— Chris Farrell, Star Tribune"[Work, Retire, Repeat] examines the wide array of realities older adults face as they retire or find themselves working later in life. It’s a meaningful, engaging, and accessible book that deals with subject matter that will only increase in importance. . . . Written with passion, precision and prescription."
— Raymond A. Jetson, Generations Now"Work, Retire, Repeat makes valuable points in assessing attempts to push back retirement for all Americans."
— City Journal"Ghilarducci argues convincingly that how long people need to work is more about who has power in society than anything else."
— Peter Coy, The New York Times"The book is for the growing number of people in the public and policy community who are worried about their retirement and engaged in the renewed debate about Social Security and Medicare."
— New Books NetworkNamed one of the Best Summer Books of 2024. "A powerful rejoinder to the view that, in an aging society, people must work longer and retire later."
— Martin Wolf, The Financial Times"[Work, Retire, Repeat] is a wake-up call to academics and policymakers to take the well-being of low-income older workers seriously and a provocative starting point for what better policy toward senior citizens might entail."
— Andrew Samwick, Journal of Economic Literature“Through a well-structured narrative combined with a thorough analysis of empirical studies, Ghilarducci makes a compelling case for why retirement policies need to be reformed. . . Work, Retire, Repeat is thought-provoking.”
— Economic RecordTopics
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Frontmatter
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Contents
vii -
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Acknowledgments
ix -
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Foreword
xi - Part I: How the Working-Longer Consensus Made the Retirement Crises Worse
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1. The Erosion of Retirement and the Rise of Retirement Inequality
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2. The Shift to Retirement Insecurity
25 - Part II : The Hidden Costs of Working Longer
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3. Working Longer Is Often Not a Choice
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4. Working Longer Can Harm Your Health
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5. Working Longer Creates Unequal Retirement Time
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6. Working Longer Does Little to Improve Retirement Security
106 -
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7. When Older Workers Lose, All Workers Lose
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8. The High Cost of Bad Pensions
144 - Part III : The Gray New Deal
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9. Good Jobs for Older Workers
163 -
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10. Creating Better Pensions
178 -
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Notes
197 -
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Bibliography
223 -
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Index
249
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
April 3, 2024
eBook ISBN:
9780226831473
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9780226831473
Keywords for this book
old age poverty; retirement; working longer; 401(k); longevity; precariat; age discrimination; inequality; working longer consensus
Audience(s) for this book
For a non-specialist adult audience
