Just as Congress gets ready to debate whether there is a “retirement crisis,” new survey results from an organization supportive of restoring defined benefit plans finds that Americans are increasingly worried about retirement. 
According to the survey results from the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS), when asked whether the nation faces a retirement crisis, roughly 8 in 10 respondents (79%) agreed that there is a crisis, up from 67% in 2020. In addition, more than half of respondents (55%) say they are concerned that they cannot achieve financial security in retirement, while 83% believe that all workers should have a pension so they can be independent and self-reliant in retirement.
When it comes to inflation, nearly three-quarters (73%) of respondents said recent inflation has them more concerned about their ability to achieve a secure retirement; market volatility has also raised retirement worries, with 62% concerned.
In what is probably not a coincidence, these findings come on the same day the NIRS is holding a retirement security policy conference in Washington, DC, and as the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee prepares to hold a hearing on the so-called retirement crisis.
“If our leaders are serious about rebuilding retirement security for Americans, there's no question that increasing pension coverage must be part of the equation,” said Dan Doonan, NIRS executive director and report co-author, in a statement. “Americans want them, and the ground indeed is shifting with employers like IBM returning to pensions.”
Doonan further suggested that other employers could follow suit “driven by their desire to provide retirement benefits in the most cost-efficient manner possible, employees’ preferences for reliable lifetime income, and a critical need to recruit and retain workers in an increasingly tight labor market.”
Support for Pensions
NIRS, meanwhile, also asked workers if their current employer offered a pension, would they be more likely to stay at the company longer even if another job opportunity arose. In this case, 90% of workers with a pension say that a pension benefit makes them more likely to stay in their job even if another job opportunity was to come up. The results were similar for workers without pensions. Most workers (87%) without a pension say they’d be more likely to stay at the company longer even if another job opportunity came if their current employer provided a pension.
Additional findings include the following:
Respondents want policy leaders to give their retirement concerns a higher priority. Most respondents (87%) say leaders in Washington don't understand how hard it is for workers to save for retirement, up from 76% in 2020. In addition, 86% say Washington policymakers need to focus more on retirement and give it a higher priority on the policy agenda, up from 76% in 2020. Most respondents (84%) say government should make it easier to offer pensions to their workers, also up from 76% in 2020.
Respondents want action now to safeguard Social Security. Here, the survey found that 87% of respondents say Congress should act now to shore up funding rather than waiting another 10 years to find a solution. Also, 87% say the program must remain a priority no matter the state of federal budget deficits. When it comes to expanding Social Security, just slightly more than half of respondents (52%) agreed with this concept.
Respondents are worried about long-term care costs in retirement. Similarly, 87% are concerned about rising costs overall, while 80% are worried about the rising cost of long-term nursing care. A large share of respondents (86%) is also worried about rising healthcare costs in retirement, while 75% are concerned about rising housing costs in retirement.
The findings are based upon a national survey of working age Americans conducted by Greenwald Research between Oct. 10-25, 2023, with a total of 1,208 individuals aged 25 and older completing the survey.
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