Catherwood LibraryILR School

While poverty amongst the elderly declined during the 20th century, this societal achievement faces reversal in the coming decades as shrinking Social Security funds lower retirement benefits by over 11 percent in the next 20 years. The phenomenon will not be limited to the American workforce; economic analysis from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development indicates that gross replacement rates of public pension systems for several European countries will decline over the next half-century. Governments have tried raising the retirement age and linking benefits closely to employee contributions, but an increasingly aging populace, coupled with poor economic growth and employment prospects over the last few years, will make it difficult even for younger workers to save enough money towards a decent living standard in old age.