What Explains the Widening Gap in Retirement Ages by Education?

A new brief from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College seeks to explain the underlying trends behind the yawning gap in retirement ages based on retirees' level of education. The brief notes that less-educated people experience less improvement in health, tend to face more physically demanding jobs and less flexible work schedules, have slower increases in longevity and therefore less to gain from holding off on Social Security, and face steeper declines in marriage rates, providing less incentive to stay employed longer in order to retire with a younger spouse. These factors make it more difficult for those with less education to ensure a secure retirement.