Two recent articles feature SCEPA research as they shed light on the unfortunate trend emerging for Americans who hope to retire: downward mobility.
On February 16, 2013, The Washington Post ran the story, Fiscal Troubles Ahead for Most Future Retirees. This is the first time that Americans are going to be relatively worse off than their parents or grandparents in old age. The article cites SCEPA's Retirement Income Security Project and its work documenting the failure of 401(k) accounts to adequately prepare Americans for retirement. It also makes note that a diversity of organizations found similar results in retirement trends, including the conservative Heritage Foundation and the Senate's Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
On February 19, 2013, the LA Times ran, A Crucial Step Toward Retirement Security for the Working Class. Reporter Michael Hiltzik gives a succinct overview of California's new law to help low-wage workers save for retirement as well as the political challenges to enacting this common sense solution. The new plan is modeled after SCEPA's State Guaranteed Retirement proposal. Once implemented, California will expand access to retirement saving for more than six million people