The sharp decline in economic activity from 2007-2009, known as The Great Recession, took out a lot from the retirement security of American workers, such as wages, pension benefits, home equity, and savings.
However, there’s another issue, less understood and less noticeable, that hurts retirement security: part-time work. After the Great Recession, part-time labor force in the United States increased from 17% to 20.1% in 2010, and it remains high today at 18.3% according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A study done by The Pew Charitable Trusts tells us a trend in who are hurting when it comes to retirement savings, and the data shows that they are part-time workers.
Part-time work is prevalent in the retail trade, arts, entertainment, recreation, and food service. Workers employed here have less options to choose their retirement plans and other benefits, such as medical insurance and paid leave. There’s no workplace plan, which is important for building savings for retirement.
The solution to this problem should be for businesses to provide access to employment benefits, especially retirement plans, even to part-time employees. But most of the time, we don’t see this happening at places with part-time workers, simply because the business can’t afford it.
For short-lived economic reasons, part-time work is not a bad choice. But for making your long-term financial goals a reality, investing in retirement savings is the best way to go.
If you want to make retirement planning and retirement savings easier and efficient, don’t hesitate to contact us now at Prenger & Profitt.
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