26th Annual RDRC Meeting

The next Retirement and Disability Research Consortium Meeting will be held August 7-9, 2024 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

This free and public event showcases the latest in retirement and disability research from the nation’s top scholars. 

Register to attend in-person | Register to attend virtually (live stream)

Please submit your questions for the Q&A sessions in advance via email to crr@bc.edu.

Day 1: Wednesday, August 7, 2024

8:30-9:00: Registration and Coffee

9:00-9:15: Welcoming Remarks: Ben Belton (SSA)

9:15-10:15: Panel 1: Economic Security for Women of Color
Moderator: Valerie Rawlston Wilson (Economic Policy Institute)

• Kate Bahn (Institute for Women’s Policy Research)
• LesLeigh Ford (Urban Institute)

10:15-10:30: Break

10:30-11:45: Panel 2: Advancing Equity through Structural Barriers Research
Moderator: Kilolo Kijakazi (SSA)

• “The Re-Entry and Disability Application Experiences of Formerly Incarcerated Older Adults”
  Ruth Finkelstein and Christian Gonzalez-Rivera (Hunter College)
• “Barriers to Social Security Administration Application and Interaction Encountered by Older Adults who have LGBTQ+ or Gender Diverse Identities”
  Mark Brennan-Ing, Jennie Kaufman, Yiyi Wu, and Cicely Johnson (Hunter College)
• “The Perceived Influence of Race and Gender in Work History, Work Attitudes, Economic Resources, and Health on Black Women’s Retirement”
  Danielle Dickens (Spelman College)
• “Barriers to SSDI and SSI Program Participation for the Visually Impaired Community”
  Wendy Edmonds (Bowie State University) and LaTanya Brown-Robertson (Howard University) 

11:45-12:15: Box Lunch

12:15-1:00: Keynote Address: Darrick Hamilton (The New School) and William Emmons (Washington University in St. Louis)
Moderator: Kilolo Kijakazi (SSA)

1:00-1:30: Poster Session and Networking Break

1:30-2:45: Panel 3: Community-Based Participatory Research
Moderator: Olugbenga (Gbenga) Ajilore (U.S. Department of Agriculture)

• Makini Chisolm-Straker (Yale University)
• Vernon Grant (Montana State University)
• Suhas Kellampalli (Disability Rights and Resources)
• Bárbara J. Robles (Federal Reserve Board, Retired)

2:45-3:00: Break

3:00-4:00: Panel 4: Disability and Accessibility in Underserved Communities
Moderator: Diane Brandt (Social Security Advisory Board)

• Lydia Brown (National Disability Institute)
• Nanette Goodman (Syracuse University)
• Sue Popkin (Urban Institute)

4:00-4:15: Closing Remarks: Cortney Sanders (SSA)

Day 2: Thursday, August 8, 2024

8:30-8:55: Registration and Coffee

8:55-9:00: Welcoming Remarks: Alicia H. Munnell (Boston College)

9:00-10:15: Panel 5: Let’s Ask Them: Examining Barriers to Accessing Support Programs
Moderator: Makini Chisolm-Straker (Yale University)

• “Improving Recipiency in U.S. Social Insurance: A Scoping Examination”
  Isaac Marcelin (University of Maryland Eastern Shore)
• “Challenges in Accessing Supplemental Security Income for People with Disabilities”
  Miriam Heyman and Monika Mitra (Brandeis University)
• “Developing a Survey to Understand Barriers to Applying for Disability Insurance”
  David Powell, Lisa Abraham, and Jessie Coe (RAND) and Derek Ruiz (Southern University and A&M College)
• “Which LTSS Caregiver Support Policies Are Preferred by Race/Ethnicity?”
  Marc A. Cohen and Christian E. Weller (University of Massachusetts Boston), Brandon G. Wilson (Community Catalyst), and Anqi Chen (Boston College)

10:15-10:30: Break

10:30-11:45: Panel 6: Places Matter
Moderator: K. Steven Brown (Aspen Institute)

• “Community-engaged Research into the Barriers and Communication Preferences of Rural Populations”
  Debra Brucker, Megan Henly, Andrew Houtenville, and Kelly Nye-Lengerman (University of New Hampshire)
• “Assessing Underserved Beneficiaries’ Communication Needs, Phase II”
  Dayo Oyeleye (Bowie State University)
• “The Relationship between Local Characteristics and Disability Applications and Awards”
  Stipica Mudrazija (University of Washington and Urban Institute), Barbara Butrica (Urban Institute), and Keisha Solomon (Howard University)
• “How Workplace Matters for Health: New Evidence on Disparities in Mortality in Urban and Rural America”
  Jessica Hardie (Hunter College) and Frank Heiland (Baruch College)

11:45-12:15: Box Lunch

12:15-1:00: Keynote Address: Debra Whitman (AARP)
Introduction: Robert Weathers (SSA)
Moderator: Andrew D. Eschtruth (Boston College)

1:00-1:30: Poster Session and Networking Break

1:30-2:45: Panel 7: Multigenerational Housing and Caregiving
Moderator: Stephanie Firestone (AARP)

• “Multigenerational Living Arrangements and Retirement Savings/Expectations by Race/Ethnicity”
  Jennifer Caputo (Westat)
• “Coresident Grandparents’ Mortality Risk by Race/Ethnicity”
  Hongwei Xu (Queens College)
• “Do Shared Households Reduce or Increase Housing Cost Burden among Older Adults?”
  Hope Harvey (University of Kentucky), Kristin L. Perkins (Georgetown University), and Lucas Taulbee (University of Kentucky)
• “Who Pays for Elder Care?”
  Jessica Forden and Teresa Ghilarducci (The New School) and Siavash Radpour (Stockton University)

2:45-3:00: Break

3:00-4:15: Panel 8: New Perspectives on Poverty
Moderator: H. Luke Shaefer (University of Michigan)

• “Poverty Among Older Adults Using the ‘Principal Poverty Measure’”
  Sanders Korenman (Baruch College) and Rosemary Hyson (CUNY Institute for Demographic Research)
• “The Color of Wealth in Chicago”
  Malcolm Williams (RAND), Darrick Hamilton (New School), and Lilian Perez and Susann Rohwedder (RAND)
• “Disparities in Older Adults’ Employment and Economic Security for Those with Chronic Health Conditions”
  Cäzilia Loibl, Stephanie Moulton, Donald Haurin, Joshua Joseph, and Matthew Pesavento (Ohio State), Kendall Moody (Howard University), Adam Perzynski and Douglas Einstadter (Case Western), Madison Hyer (Ohio State), and Stephania Miller-Hughes (Meharry Medical College)
• “Why Does Old-Age Poverty Persist?”
  Barbara A. Butrica and Richard W. Johnson (Urban Institute) and Christopher Tamborini (U.S. Social Security Administration)

Day 3: Friday, August 9, 2024

8:00-8:30: Registration and Coffee

8:30-9:45: Panel 9: Precarious Work
Moderator: Siavash Radpour (Stockton University)

• “Structural Barriers to Expected Full Time Employment Past Age 62 by Race/Ethnicity/Gender”
  Frank Heiland and Na Yin (Baruch College) and Duygu Basaran Sahin (RAND)
• “Why Do Some Initially Successful Work Attempts Succeed While Others Fail?”
  Gina A. Livermore and Jody Schimmel Hyde (Mathematica)
• “A Qualitative Investigation of Work-Related Decision Making Among SSI Recipients”
  Katie Savin (California State University, Sacramento) and Nev Jones (University of Pittsburgh)
• “Has Remote Work Improved Employment Outcomes for Older People with Disabilities?”
  Siyan Liu and Laura D. Quinby (Boston College)

9:45-10:00: Break

10:00-11:15: Panel 10: Intended and Unintended Consequences of Policy Reform
Moderator: Phillip Beatty (National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research

• “Will Auto-IRA Savings Disqualify Vulnerable People from Benefit Programs?”
  Karolos Arapakis and Laura D. Quinby (Boston College)
• “The Effects of Medicaid Expansion on the Use of SSI and SSDI by American Indians and Alaska Natives”
  Randall Akee (University of California, Los Angeles) and Emilia Simeonova (Johns Hopkins University)
• “Barriers to Accessing Healthcare Services Among Denied SSI/DI Applicants”
  Jocelyn Marrow (Westat)
• “Structural Barriers to Receipt of Income and Health Insurance among Adults with Disabilities”
  Ellen Meara, David Cutler, and Marema Gaye (Harvard University) and Rand Obeidat (Bowie State University)

11:15-11:45: Box Lunch

11:45-12:30: Keynote Address: Maya Rockeymoore Cummings (Global Policy Solutions)
Introduction: Susan Wilschke (SSA)

12:30-1:15: Poster Session and Networking Break

1:15-2:30: Panel 11: The Legacy of COVID-19
Moderator: Nicole Maestas (Harvard Medical School)

• “Pathways and Persistence of Labor Force Transitions during COVID-19”
  Maria Casanova (California State University, Fullerton) and David Knapp (University of Southern California)
• “Medium-Term Effects of COVID-19 on Disparities by Race and Income”
  Raj Chetty and Nathan Hendren (Harvard University), John Friedman (Brown University), and Michael Stepner (University of Toronto)
• “COVID-19 in Adults with Disabilities: Disparities in Prevalence, Health Care, and Employment”
  Zoë McLaren and Nancy Miller (University of Maryland Baltimore County)
• “How Might COVID-19 Affect Future Employment, Earnings, and OASI Claiming by Race/Ethnicity?”
  Gary V. Engelhardt (Syracuse University)

2:30-2:35: Closing Remarks: Natalie Lu (SSA)

The Annual Meeting is funded by the U.S. Social Security Administration through cooperative agreements with the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College; the NBER Retirement and Disability Research Center; the New York Retirement & Disability Research Center; the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; the University of Michigan Retirement and Disability Research Center; and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Retirement and Disability Research Center.