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State Initiatives to Cover Uncovered Private Sector Workers

Issue Brief by Alicia H. Munnell, Anek Belbase, and Geoffrey T. Sanzenbacher

March 1, 2016

The brief’s key findings are: Half of private sector workers are not covered by an employer-sponsored retirement plan. The federal government has made no progress on closing this coverage gap, so the states are stepping into the breach: Four states have adopted a mandatory Auto-IRA program. Two other states are setting up voluntary marketplaces. Of…

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Pension Participation and Uncovered Workers

Issue Brief by Nadia S. Karamcheva and Geoffrey T. Sanzenbacher

August 15, 2010

The brief’s key findings are: The Obama Administration has proposed “Auto-IRAs” to boost pension coverage among those not currently offered a plan. Such a policy is seen to offer great potential, given that 60 percent of low-income workers currently offered a 401(k) choose to participate. However, these low-income workers with 401(k)s are different from their…