The report, which was released earlier this month and which appears to define older workers as those ages 55 and up, outlines the breadth and severity of what it calls "the COVID-19 recession." Among other key findings and highlights in the report:

The unemployment rate for workers ages 55 and up was 13.6% for April.
The recession affects all 67 million Americans in households close to retirement, by decreasing their financial preparedness for retirement, as measured by the share of pre-retirement earnings replaced with retirement income. While a replacement rate of about 70% is recommended, the median replacement rate for older workers will drop 7 to 9 percentage points because of the recession.
While a large majority of lower-earning older workers were likely to be poor in retirement before the recession hit, the COVID-19 fallout will push an additional one million people from the group into poverty.
Poverty rates for middle-income workers will increase from 38% to 42%, representing an additional 1.1 million people experiencing "downward mobility" in retirement—meaning going from middle class to poverty—because of the recession
The COVID-19 recession will double the number of high earners expected to suffer "downward mobility" into poverty when retired, jumping from 360,000 to 720,000 people.

The Retirement Equity Lab, which seeks to focus "the public economics debate on the role government can and should play," according to The New School website, also gave policy recommendations in its report. They included increasing the Social Security minimum benefit to reduce older-age poverty and discouraging early retirement account withdrawals. The latter would come from the U.S. Congress reinstating the 10% penalty fee for early withdrawals from tax-advantaged accounts, the group said.

Instant Insights /

Middle-income retirement participants 'hit from both sides' by COVID-19

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