Working Paper: NBER ID: w30456
Authors: Angelino Viceisza; Amaia Calhoun; Gabriella Jo Lee
Abstract: We review select literature on racial and ethnic disparities in retirement outcomes in the United States and the impact of outreach on such outcomes. First, there are significant disparities in retirement outcomes, reflecting a long history of racism and structural barriers. Second, there is comparatively little work on the differential impact of retirement outreach across race and ethnicity. Future work should consider designing interventions that cater to the needs of specific demographic groups, for example, by embracing the fact that Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites acquire retirement information from different sources. Future work should incorporate behavioral insights, particularly from prior interventions, and innovate on methodologies for data collection, linking, and analysis.
Keywords: retirement preparedness; retirement planning; outreach; communication; race; ethnicity; financial literacy
JEL Codes: D83; J15; J26; J32; Z13
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| employment discrimination (J71) | retirement preparedness (J26) |
| occupational segregation (J79) | retirement preparedness (J26) |
| financial literacy (G53) | retirement outcomes (J26) |
| lack of access to financial education resources (G53) | financial literacy (G53) |
| differences in retirement planning behaviors (D14) | retirement outcomes (J26) |