The Great Retirement Squeeze - Pension Cuts Mean Poverty For Future Elders

San Francisco - Only a week after an election signaling a rollback in public-employee retirement benefits, new Federal Reserve data show a sharp decline in family wealth. The effect is especially acute for non-whites and Hispanic households.

The compounding factors of deep losses in U.S. family wealth, sharp declines in pensions and calls in Washington to reduce Social Security could tarnish Americans’ golden years for generations to come, particularly for economically vulnerable groups of older women and ethnic elders.

Recession Cuts Retirement Savings

The Fed’s new Survey of Consumer Finances for 2010 reveals that while white non-Hispanic families saw a 
10 percent decline in their wealth since 2007, nonwhite or Hispanic families saw their mean assets plunge by 26.8 percent.

Overall, only one in seven Americans are confident “in their ability to retire comfortably,” according to a survey published in March by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). The findings, says the report, are at “historically low levels.”

The Fed’s latest figures add to the troubling picture of future retirement for today’s workers. Last week’s victory of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and his policy terminating collective-bargaining rights by state workers, and the California votes in San Jose and San Diego negating existing pension agreements, were only the latest development in the great retirement squeeze.

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