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2021-06-03
Employee Benefit Research Institute;
This Fast Fact report from The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) highlights statistics captured as part of the organization's April 2021 Issue Brief – Retirees in Profile: Evaluating Five Distinct Lifestyles in Retirement.These findings underscore that despite significant improvements in women's labor force participation over the past decades, gender inequality remains a persistent issue in many aspects of women's working lives, including retirement security. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, disparities have grown. Older women have been disproportionately represented in industries that suffered heavily from the pandemic, such as retail and hospitality. Policy changes that are sensitive to women's unique retirement needs can help narrow the gap.The Employee Benefit Research Institute is a nonpartisan, tax-exempt organization contributing to sound employee benefit programs and public policy through independent, objective, fact-based research and education.This report was developed with support from RRF Foundation for Aging.Click "Download" to access this resource.
2020-07-24
Advancing States;
The home environment plays a critical role in adults' ability to stay in their homes and communities as they age, commonly referred to as aging in place. Yet the majority of older adults' homes lack supportive features. Home modification is the process of making changes to a home to increase independence, safety, and health. Often combined with related repairs, home modification and repair (HMR) can be minor, such as adding grab bars and removing tripping hazards, or major, such as installing roll-in showers and ramps. Although HMRs can support people as their needs change and even preclude moves to institutional settings, numerous barriers challenge the ability of older adults and caregivers to access them.In response, the Administration for Community Living (ACL) funded the University of Southern California (USC) Leonard Davis School of Gerontology to implement the project, "Promoting Aging in Place by Enhancing Access to Home Modifications." Its goal is to address the barriers to home modification access and service delivery by increasing the availability and awareness of home modification at the national, state, and local levels. A key activity of this project was to develop a knowledge base of state HMR activities and programs for older adults and persons with disabilities with a focus on the State Units on Aging (SUAs). These agencies develop and implement state plans and support services for older persons, adults with physical disabilities and their families. SUAs administer funds, including those provided through the Older Americans Act (OAA), to support HMR services through local Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) and other state and local entities (e.g., OAA Title VI organizations that serve older Native Americans). SUAs can play a significant role in HMR by including it in state plans, providing designated funding, raising awareness, and coordinating with other state agencies such as housing, disability, and health.In October 2019, USC and its ACL project partner ADvancing States administered an online survey of directors of the 56 SUAs (which ADvancing States represents). The 10-question closed and open-ended survey sought to ascertain SUA activities, challenges, and opportunities in HMR. With extensive follow-up through February 2020, 50 SUAs completed the survey (an 89% response rate).This report summarizes the survey results, giving a bird's eye view of SUA roles in HMR and shining a light on examples of SUA HMR activities. Its purpose is to encourage greater involvement and coordination in HMR service delivery among agencies with a stake in assuring older Americans' ability to age in place.Click "Download" to access this resource.Tags: Older Americans Act, Area Agencies on Aging, State Units on Aging, Home-and Community-Based Services
2020-01-01
Generations United;
This toolkit was developed by Generations United and the Leading Age LTSS Center @UMass Boston with funding from the RRF Foundation for Aging (formerly the Retirement Research Foundation). It was designed specifically to help senior housing organizations plan and implement high-quality intergenerational programs that will benefit residents and young people in their communities. While designed with senior housing organizations in mind, a range of organizations interested in planning and implementing intergenerational programs and activities will also find the toolkit useful. There are many ways to take an intergenerational approach to programming. The materials contained in the toolkit can help you begin developing your program and/or give you tips on deepening or expanding your intergenerational work.
2020-08-01
National Academy of Social Insurance;
This primer is a PowerPoint presentation of approximately 40 slides that provides factual background about Social Security, its benefits and finances, and some policy options to improve the program. The Academy's income security staff ensures that the data in the presentation are up-to-date. Topics covered include:Who receives Social Security?What are typical Social Security benefits?How do benefits compare to earnings for retirees at different wage levels?Who pays for it?How many older Americans receive employer-sponsored pensions?How are Social Security retirement benefits projected to change in the future?What is Social Security disability insurance?What are the ""best estimate"" long-range projections of Social Security finances? What do the high-cost and low-cost projections show? What is the actuarial deficit?Why will Social Security cost more in the future? Can we afford Social Security in the future? How can we strengthen Social Security in the future? What are our options? Why consider revenue enhancements to balance Social Security?What do American workers say?Click "Download" to access this resource.Tag: Policy
2020-06-05
The Pension Rights Center;
There is now a helpful new guide for individuals who are going through a divorce and have questions about dividing retirement benefits.The guide -- created by the Pension Rights Center, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges' Resource Center on Domestic Violence: Child Protection and Custody, and the National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life -- highlights tips for individuals going through a divorce. Many people do not know that they can ask for a share of a spouse's retirement benefit at divorce, but retirement benefits are often the largest asset in a marriage. It is important to take the right steps during the divorce proceedings and after, or a divorced person may not receive the benefits he or she is entitled to.The guide explains different types of retirement benefits, discusses special considerations for individuals in controlling or abusive relationships, and describes how to get a special court order called a QDRO and what to do with it. Family courts, organizations that assist survivors of domestic violence, and other groups that work with people going through divorce can use this guide to help individuals understand their retirement rights at divorce.This guide is among PRC's many activities designed to make the process of dividing retirement benefits at divorce more accessible and easier to understand. We've launched an Initiative on Women and Retirement at Divorce to ensure that women and other vulnerable people going through a divorce know that they need a QDRO, and to make the process of getting a QDRO more efficient and less costly. We have brought together stakeholders from all sides -- retiree organizations, women's groups, pension plans, employers, financial institutions, family attorneys and judges -- to develop recommendations for making the QDRO process easier for consumers and less burdensome for retirement plans.Click "Download" to access this resource.
2020-01-01
National Institute on Retirement Security;
The spending by 27 million retired Americans from their monthly pension payments in 2016 supported 7.5 million jobs for other Americas and $1.2 trillion in total economic output nationwide.What is the impact in your state? Click on a st"A new report finds that a large portion (40 percent) of older Americans rely only on Social Security income in retirement while only a small percentage of older Americans (seven percent) receive income from Social Security, a defined benefit pension, and a defined contribution account. Retirement income from these three sources is widely considered to be the ideal situation to ensure retirement security, particularly for the middle class. Retirees with these three sources of income are far less likely to face poverty and economic hardship.These findings are contained in a new report from the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS), Examining the Nest Egg: The Sources of Retirement Income for Older Americans. The report is co-authored by Tyler Bond, NIRS manager of research, and Dr. Frank Porell, University of Massachusetts Boston professor emeritus.The analysis also finds that without income from Social Security in 2013, the number of poor older U.S. households would have increased by more than 200 percent to 11 million households. Absent income from defined benefit pensions, the number of poor older households would have increased by 19 percent to more than four million households in 2013. Defined contribution plans, however, are less powerful at keeping older households out of poverty than pensions and Social Security because fewer near-poor households have assets in 401(k)-style defined contribution accounts and income from those accounts provided a smaller portion of total income. Without income from defined contribution accounts, the estimated number of poor older households would have increased by five percent."ate to download a Fact Sheet with details.Click "Download" to access this resource.
2020-05-01
National Institute on Retirement Security;
While most Americans are struggling to save for retirement, women face even higher hurdles, largely stemming from the gender pay gap that eventually becomes a retirement wealth gap. Older women receive about 80 percent of the retirement income older men receive, a disparity that mirrors the gender pay gap."Still Shortchanged: An Update on Women's Retirement Preparedness" finds that median household income for women aged 65 and older in 2016 was $47,244 or 83 percent of median household income for men, which as at $57,144. The research also finds that caregiving, especially spousal caregiving, has a more detrimental economic impact on women, while divorce makes retirement more difficult for women. This report details the inequalities in retirement savings between men and women, examines the sources of income for men and women in retirement and the ways in which they differ, and considers specific factors that are more likely to negatively impact women, such as divorce and caregiving responsibilities. The analysis was developed using data from the 2014 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), a household-based survey featuring a nationally representative sample interviewed over a multi-year period.Click "Download" to access this resource.
2020-01-01
Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University;
As the overall population ages, the number of very low-income older adult households that qualify for HUD housing assistance is rising rapidly. Older adults tend to stay in subsidized housing longer than younger families. As a result, older adults make up a growing share of HUD-subsidized renter households. In the last ten years alone, the share of older adults in HUD-subsidized housing has risen five percentage points, and older adult households now make up over a third of all subsidized renters. In this paper, we examine whether the subsidized housing stock is suitable for aging in place. We ask: What physical challenges do older subsidized renters face? What difficulties do they experience with their housing environment? And, are subsidized units more equipped with accessibility features than units without rent assistance?To answer these questions, we used the 2011 American Housing Survey, the last vintage of this survey to include detailed questions about housing accessibility and household mobility difficulties. We constructed a comparison group of eligible, unsubsidized renters making up to 30 percent of area median income. We used chi-square statistics, logistic regression modeling, and propensity score matching to identify differences in housing accessibility and mobility difficulties between subsidized and unsubsidized, eligible older adults. We also compare households receiving project-based subsidies to those receiving tenant-based vouchers.The findings confirm that older subsidized renters have many vulnerabilities, but rental housing assistance provides more livable housing in terms of accessibility than private-market rentals. We also find that renters receiving project-based rental assistance typically have more accessibility features than those receiving tenant-based assistance, but the differences are not statistically significant. Ultimately, our results highlight the benefit of subsidized housing but also point to unmet needs. Livable and wheelchair accessible units are lacking for older, extremely low-income renters, whether they receive a subsidy or not. While many units are potentially modifiable, only a small share have basic accessibility features that make them currently livable for older adults.Click "Download" to access this resource.
2020-01-01
Bright Focus Foundation;
This resource discusses medical conditions that can affect driving, safe driving tips and strategies, a self test for drivers, evaluation and discussion of unsafe driving practices, and maintaining independence once a decision is made to stop driving.Click "Download" to access this resource.
2020-11-04
National Academy for State Health Policy;
Family caregivers help Medicaid enrollees safely stay in their own homes, prevent or delay hospital and nursing facility stays, and provide personal care services that Medicaid agencies would otherwise need to pay for. However, there are strong indications that family caregivers need additional supports, which would benefit the Medicaid enrollees in their care. Recognizing family caregivers' critical contributions, state Medicaid agencies already provide training, services, or, sometimes payment to them. This report examines the strategies states currently use and presents four interrelated actions the federal government could take to foster spread of innovative strategies that some states have developed.Click "Download" to access this resource.Tags: Healthcare, Caregiving, Policy
2020-05-01
AARP;
The National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) and AARP present Caregiving in the U.S. 2020!This report is the most recent update to our trended research series, Caregiving in the U.S., conducted roughly every five years. The 2020 update reveals an increase in the number of family caregivers in the United States of 9.5 million from 2015 to 2020. Family caregivers now encompass more than one in five Americans. The study also reveals that family caregivers are in worse health compared to five years ago. As the demand for caregiving rises with an aging population, there is an opportunity for the public and private sectors to work together to develop solutions to support family caregivers and those under their care.Click "Download" to access this resource.
2020-04-14
National Academy for State Health Policy;
To assist the RAISE Act Family Caregiving Advisory Council make its recommendations, NASHP collected and analyzed about 800 recommendations from 27 key family caregiving reports written in the past decade. NASHP synthesized and inventoried the recommendations in this resource, with support from The John A. Hartford Foundation and in collaboration with the US Administration for Community Living.Click "Download" to access this resource.
