Does Autoenrollment Affect Employer Contributions?

Summarizes research on how automatically enrolling employees in 401(k) plans in order to raise participation rates increases costs for employers and affects their matching contribution rates and, in turn, the retirement security of eligible employees

How Much Might Automatic IRAs Improve Retirement Security for Low- and Moderate-Wage Workers?

Estimates the extent to which requiring employers with no retirement plan to set up individual retirement accounts and automatically deposit a portion of pay would improve low- and moderate-wage workers' retirement security. Outlines policy implications

Age Disparities in Unemployment and Reemployment During the Great Recession and Recovery

Analyzes patterns in the percentage of workers unemployed at any point between May 2008 and March 2011, number of months they were unemployed, wage losses at reemployment, and likelihood of workers leaving the labor force by age group

Retaining Older Volunteers Is Key to Meeting Future Volunteer Needs

The boomers' impending retirement has spurred interest in tapping their productive energies to benefit society. This study examines older adults' decisions to stop or start formal volunteer work. The findings show that older adults usually stick with their original decisions, but more often stop than start volunteering. Volunteers who contribute a lot of hours over many years and who are married to volunteers are less likely to quit. And nonvolunteers are more likely to start volunteering if they have been uninvolved for few years and their spouses volunteer. The results highlight the importance of volunteer retention strategies for nonprofit agencies

What the 2008 Stock Market Crash Means for Retirement Security

Compares future retirement resources before and after the stock market decline, by gender, marital status, race/ethnicity, education, and retirement income quintile, under three scenarios: no recovery, full recovery, and partial recovery in ten years

Understanding Early Withdrawals From Retirement Accounts

Examines early withdrawals from IRAs and 401(k)s by demographics, education, income, and reason, including job loss, poor health, and college costs. Suggests policies to expand plan participation, preserve retirement savings, and increase other savings

The Potential Impact of the Great Recession on Future Retirement Incomes

Estimates the effects of job loss, slower wage growth, and withdrawals from retirement savings during the 2007-09 recession on retirement incomes at age 70, including decline in income by age group and number of those likely to live in poverty at 70

To See the Unseen: A History of Planetary Radar Astronomy

This book relates the history of planetary radar astronomy from its origins in radar to the present day and secondarily to bring to light that history as a case of 'Big Equipment but not Big Science'. Chapter One sketches the emergence of radar astronomy as an ongoing scientific activity at Jodrell Bank, where radar research revealed that meteors were part of the solar system. The chief Big Science driving early radar astronomy experiments was ionospheric research. Chapter Two links the Cold War and the Space Race to the first radar experiments attempted on planetary targets, while recounting the initial achievements of planetary radar, namely, the refinement of the astronomical unit and the rotational rate and direction of Venus. Chapter Three discusses early attempts to organize radar astronomy and the efforts at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory, in conjunction with Harvard radio astronomers, to acquire antenna time unfettered by military priorities. Here, the chief Big Science influencing the development of planetary radar astronomy was radio astronomy. Chapter Four spotlights the evolution of planetary radar astronomy at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a NASA facility, at Cornell University's Arecibo Observatory, and at Jodrell Bank. A congeries of funding from the military, the National Science Foundation, and finally NASA marked that evolution, which culminated in planetary radar astronomy finding a single Big Science patron, NASA. Chapter Five analyzes planetary radar astronomy as a science using the theoretical framework provided by philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn. Chapter Six explores the shift in planetary radar astronomy beginning in the 1970s that resulted from its financial and institutional relationship with NASA Big Science. Chapter Seven addresses the Magellan mission and its relation to the evolution of planetary radar astronomy from a ground-based to a space-based activity. Chapters Eight and Nine discuss the research carried out at ground-based facilities by this transformed planetary radar astronomy, as well as the upgrading of the Arecibo and Goldstone radars. A technical essay appended to this book provides an overview of planetary radar techniques, especially range-Doppler mapping

Children's Savings Accounts: Why Design Matters

Estimates how specific features of CSAs -- supplemental grants, federal matches, private contributions, and nontaxability -- would affect the impact of CSAs on wealth distribution. Analyzes data by mother's race/ethnicity, income, and education