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Research Article
Open Access

Is the U.S. Retirement System Contributing to Rising Wealth Inequality?

Sebastian Devlin-Foltz, Alice Henriques, John Sabelhaus
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences October 2016, 2 (6) 59-85; DOI: https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2016.2.6.04
Sebastian Devlin-Foltz
aSenior research assistant
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Alice Henriques
bSenior economist
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John Sabelhaus
cAssistant director in the Division of Research and Statistics at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
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Article Figures & Data

Figures

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  • Figure 1.
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    Figure 1.

    Aggregate Retirement Assets to Aggregate Personal Income

  • Figure 2.
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    Figure 2.

    Aggregate Retirement Assets to Aggregate Household Sector Net Worth

  • Figure 3.
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    Figure 3.

    Aggregate Retirement Plan Participation, All Households

  • Figure 4.
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    Figure 4.

    Aggregate Retirement Plan Participation, Working-Age

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    Figure 5.

    Aggregate Assets in DC Accounts and IRAs

  • Figure 6.
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    Figure 6.

    Retirement Plan Participation, 1989 to 2013

  • Figure 7.
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    Figure 7.

    Retirement Plan Participation, 1995 to 2013, Bottom 50 Percent

  • Figure 8.
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    Figure 8.

    Retirement Plan Participation, 1995 to 2013, Next 45 Percent

  • Figure 9.
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    Figure 9.

    Retirement Plan Participation, 1995 to 2013, Top 5 Percent

  • Figure 10.
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    Figure 10.

    Retirement Plan Offers, 1995 to 2013, Bottom 50 Percent

  • Figure 11.
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    Figure 11.

    Retirement Plan Offers, 1995 to 2013, Next 45

  • Figure 12.
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    Figure 12.

    Retirement Plan Offers, 1995 to 2013, Top 5 Percent

  • Figure 13.
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    Figure 13.

    Retirement Assets to Income, 1995 to 2013, Bottom 50 Percent

  • Figure 14.
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    Figure 14.

    Retirement Assets to Income, 1995 to 2013, Next 45 Percent

  • Figure 15.
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    Figure 15.

    Retirement Assets to Income, 1995 to 2013, Top 5 Percent

  • Figure 16.
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    Figure 16.

    DB Assets to Income, 1995 to 2013, Bottom 50 Percent

  • Figure 17.
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    Figure 17.

    DB Assets to Income, 1995 to 2013, Next 45 Percent

  • Figure 18.
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    Figure 18.

    DB Assets to Income, 1995 to 2013, Top 5 Percent

  • Figure 19.
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    Figure 19.

    DC Assets to Income, 1995 to 2013, Bottom 50 Percent

  • Figure 20.
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    Figure 20.

    DC Assets to Income, 1995 to 2013, Next 45

  • Figure 21.
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    Figure 21.

    DC Assets to Income, 1995 to 2013, Top 5 Percent

  • Figure 22.
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    Figure 22.

    Share of Wealth, Top 1 Percent

  • Figure 23.
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    Figure 23.

    Share of Wealth, Top 25 Percent

Tables

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RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences: 2 (6)
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
Vol. 2, Issue 6
1 Oct 2016
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Is the U.S. Retirement System Contributing to Rising Wealth Inequality?
Sebastian Devlin-Foltz, Alice Henriques, John Sabelhaus
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences Oct 2016, 2 (6) 59-85; DOI: 10.7758/RSF.2016.2.6.04

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Is the U.S. Retirement System Contributing to Rising Wealth Inequality?
Sebastian Devlin-Foltz, Alice Henriques, John Sabelhaus
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences Oct 2016, 2 (6) 59-85; DOI: 10.7758/RSF.2016.2.6.04
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  • Article
    • Abstract
    • MEASURING RETIREMENT PLAN PARTICIPATION AND RETIREMENT WEALTH
    • RETIREMENT PLAN PARTICIPATION ACROSS AND WITHIN BIRTH COHORTS
    • RETIREMENT WEALTH-TO- INCOME RATIOS
    • ROLE OF SOCIAL SECURITY WEALTH
    • EFFECT ON OVERALL WEALTH CONCENTRATION
    • CONCLUSIONS
    • Acknowledgments
    • Appendix
    • FOOTNOTES
    • REFERENCES
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

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Keywords

  • retirement
  • wealth
  • life cycle
  • synthetic panel

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