
Changes in the Distribution of Earnings and Retirement Incomes - Have Recent Cohorts Fallen Behind?
The focus of the overall project is on the distributional implications of changes in labor market outcomes on retirement labor force participation and income. Rising average real wages may well have led to earlier retirement and higher benefits for the average members of recent cohorts. But focusing on the average is likely to be highly misleading. At a time of rising inequality, persons at the bottom of the wage distribution are unlikely to have retirement experiences that resemble the average experience.