Downhill from Here

A sharp examination of the troubled state of retirement in America shares sobering insights into how the real estate crash and limited social security are preventing retirement and inducing widespread poverty in aging Baby Boomers.

"As millions of baby boomers reach their golden years, the state of retirement in America is little short of a disaster. A third of Americans have no retirement savings at all. The real estate crash wiped out much of the home equity that millions were counting on to support themselves later in life. And the typical Social Security check covers less than 40 percent of preretirement wages--a number projected to drop to under 28 percent within two decades. Elder poverty, a problem we thought was solved by the New Deal, is poised for a resurgence. With dramatic statistics and vivid portraits, acclaimed sociologist Katherine S. Newman illuminates America's abandonment of a social contract: the promise that decades of hard work would bring about a secure old age. The resulting crisis touches us all, cutting across class lines and generational divides. White-collar managers have seen pensions vanish; truckers have had their benefits cut in half; bankrupt cities like Detroit have walked away from their commitments to municipal workers. And for Generation X, the prospects are even worse, as benefit cutbacks have targeted younger workers in particular. Only the vaunted '1 percent' can face retirement without fear.