Financial well-being

Project

2025

The Role of Segregation and Gender in Moderating Blacks’ Diminished Returns of Education on Occupational Classes

Despite decades of efforts to bridge the gap, disparities in health and wealth between Black and white individuals remain stark and persistent. One aspect of structural racial inequality in the United States is diminished returns of education for Black individuals...

Authors: Shervin Assari, Angela Young-Brinn, Amanda Sonnega,

Project

2025

Racial and Gender Disparities in Early Retirement Decisions during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This project will examine whether there exist differences in early retirement decisions by race and/or gender during the COVID-19 pandemic. From a macroeconomics perspective, we will analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on potential structural changes in...

Authors: Grace Arnold, Jhacova Williams, Han Yu,

Project

2025

Insights from Chicago’s Older Adults in Poverty on Barriers to Financial Stability and Possible Remedies

Social Security programs have been instrumental in reducing poverty rates among the population ages 65 and older (28.5% in 1966 compared to 10.3% in 2021) (Li and Dalaker 2022). But challenges persist, especially among older adults of color who experience poverty at...

Authors: Susann Rohwedder,

Project

2024

Inflation’s Impact on Vulnerable Older Workers’ and Retirees’ Economic Outcomes

Inflation and uncertainty over future prices recently reached their highest levels in four decades. Given lower rates of homeownership and other inflation protected assets, Black, Hispanic, and lower-income older workers and retirees may be particularly vulnerable to...

Authors: Marco Angrisani, Jeremy Burke, Francisco Perez-Arce,

Project

2024

The Color of Wealth in Chicago: Wealth Disparities by Race and Ethnicity

In the U.S., the average Black and Hispanic or Latino household owns about 15% to 20% as much net wealth as the average white household. An in-depth understanding of the barriers to wealth accumulation among people of color is an urgent policy concern to break cycles...

Authors: Malcolm Williams, Darrick Hamilton, Lilian Perez, Susann Rohwedder,

Project

2023

RAND HRS Poverty Measures for HRS 1994

The Health and Retirement Study (HRS) is the primary data set in the U.S. for the study of the well-being of the older population. A common indicator of material hardship used in research and in the administration of various government programs is poverty status. A...

Authors: Susann Rohwedder,

Project

2023

Enhancing the RAND HRS CAMS Public Use File

In 2001 the Health and Retirement Study launched a supplementary survey, the Consumption and Activities Mail Survey (CAMS). CAMS is a biennial survey of a random subsample of HRS participants. Its purpose is to collect detailed information on household spending. The...

Authors: Susann Rohwedder,

Project

2023

The House: Is it an Asset or a Liability?

This project will investigate rising housing debt and the capacity to sustain post-retirement consumption. Housing debt may leave many households, especially women, minorities, and households with low socioeconomic status, with inadequate retirement resources.

Authors: Leora Friedberg, Wei Sun, Anthony Webb,

Project

2023

Saving Regret in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, saving regret — defined as the wish to have saved more and spent less earlier in life — was reported by 58% of the older U.S. population. And, the reports were strongly related to the experience of shocks, such as unemployment or health...

Authors: Susann Rohwedder, Axel Börsch-Supan, Michael Hurd,

Project

2023

Equity Implications of the Rising Full Retirement Age and Social Security Communications: An Analysis of Past and Future Disparities in the Economic Security of Retirees

The Social Security Amendments of 1983 raised the Full Retirement Age (FRA), the age at which claimants receive an unreduced monthly benefit, from 65 to 67. However, this change was set to be gradually implemented, with the first increase from 65 to 66 phased-in...

Authors: Philip Armour, Avery Calkins,

Project

2023

The Enduring Impacts of COVID-19 on Americans’ Economic and Retirement Security

This project builds on our previous work by using newly collected data to examine how Americans’ economic and retirement security have changed during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis will examine (1) how the long duration of the pandemic and...

Authors: Jeremy Burke, Marco Angrisani, Arie Kapteyn,

Project

2023

Inflation and Economic Security of the Older Population

Following a long period when inflation was about 2.5% per year, the year-to-year increase in the consumer price index was recently reported to be about 8%. The older population, being net lenders, is economically vulnerable to high and increasing inflation so that...

Authors: Michael Hurd, Susann Rohwedder,

Project

2023

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Effects of COVID-19 on Job Separation and Financial Precarity

Drawing on Health and Retirement Study data collected in 2021, we will examine racial differences in the COVID-19 pandemic’s consequences on financial security. We hypothesize that, relative to their white counterparts, Black and Hispanic older workers were more...

Authors: Dawn Carr, Amanda Sonnega,

Project

2023

Medical Spending Risk among the Elderly by Race and Gender

Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) linked to administrative Medicare and Medicaid records, along with the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), we estimate the stochastic process for total and out-of-pocket medical spending by race and gender. By...

Authors: Eric French, Karolos Arapakis, John Bailey Jones, Jeremy McCauley,

Project

2022

The Initial Experiences with the Redesigned Social Security Statement

In October 2021, the Social Security Administration (SSA) implemented a redesigned Social Security statement for workers being sent a statement or checking their my Social Security online accounts. Research on the prior statement has demonstrated its effect on...

Authors: Philip Armour, Katherine Carman,

Project

2022

Understanding Racial Disparities in Financial Preparedness for Retirement

To understand racial disparities in retirement age and financial preparedness, we construct a model of labor supply, retirement, and savings over the life cycle where all parameters, including preferences for time and risk and the stochastic processes of marriage,...

Authors: Junjie Guo, Ananth Seshadri,

Project

2022

Risk of Large Medical Expenditures at Older Ages and Their Impact on Economic Well-being

We investigate the extent to which out-of-pocket (OOP) medical expenditures replace other types of spending and their role in households’ experiencing financial hardship at older ages. We will begin by documenting trends in out-of-pocked (OOP) medical expenditure risk...

Authors: Susann Rohwedder, Péter Hudomiet, Michael Hurd,

Project

2021

Extending RAND HRS Poverty Measures to Earlier HRS Waves

The Health and Retirement Study (HRS) is the primary data set in the U.S. for the study of the well-being of the older population. A common indicator of material hardship used in research and in the administration of various government programs is poverty status. A...

Authors: Susann Rohwedder,

Project

2021

The Immediate Impacts of Coronavirus on Americans’ Economic Security

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented, abrupt, and stark reduction in economic activity. This project will examine how the pandemic is affecting Americans’ financial well-being using previous, ongoing, and soon to be fielded Understanding America...

Authors: Marco Angrisani, Jeremy Burke, Arie Kapteyn,

Project

2021

Mixed-methods Analysis of Consumer Fraud Reports of the Social Security Impostor Scam

Despite the growing prevalence of Social Security impostor scams, there has been no academic research on this subtype of fraud. One problem is that general sample surveys do not ask respondents about the individual subtypes of government impostor scams they may have...

Authors: Marguerite DeLiema,

Project Category: Financial well-being

The Role of Segregation and Gender in Moderating Blacks’ Diminished Returns of Education on Occupational Classes

Racial and Gender Disparities in Early Retirement Decisions during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Insights from Chicago’s Older Adults in Poverty on Barriers to Financial Stability and Possible Remedies

Inflation’s Impact on Vulnerable Older Workers’ and Retirees’ Economic Outcomes

The Color of Wealth in Chicago: Wealth Disparities by Race and Ethnicity

RAND HRS Poverty Measures for HRS 1994

Enhancing the RAND HRS CAMS Public Use File

The House: Is it an Asset or a Liability?

Saving Regret in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Equity Implications of the Rising Full Retirement Age and Social Security Communications: An Analysis of Past and Future Disparities in the Economic Security of Retirees

The Enduring Impacts of COVID-19 on Americans’ Economic and Retirement Security

Inflation and Economic Security of the Older Population

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Effects of COVID-19 on Job Separation and Financial Precarity

Medical Spending Risk among the Elderly by Race and Gender

The Initial Experiences with the Redesigned Social Security Statement

Understanding Racial Disparities in Financial Preparedness for Retirement

Risk of Large Medical Expenditures at Older Ages and Their Impact on Economic Well-being

Extending RAND HRS Poverty Measures to Earlier HRS Waves

The Immediate Impacts of Coronavirus on Americans’ Economic Security

Mixed-methods Analysis of Consumer Fraud Reports of the Social Security Impostor Scam

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