How Can Policymakers Close the Racial Gap in Retirement Security?

Financial insecurity at older ages is a growing policy concern. Retirement income largely depends on
earnings received at working ages, which determine Social Security benefits, any employer pensions
that retirees receive, and a person’s capacity to set aside additional funds for retirement. Although
earnings have been growing for women, bolstering their future retirement income, earnings have
stagnated over the past few decades for men in the bottom three-quarters of the earnings distribution
(Machin 2016; Rose 2015), threatening their retirement security.