A precious monument to Social Security and a plea for policy attention.
On Timing, Termination, and Suppression of Research and Science
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The Complex Impact of ‘On’ and ‘Off the Books’ Work
Estimating what we miss about direct care workers’ employment, earnings, and retirement savings.
Contending With Home Care Needs After a Work Disability
Who tends to become disabled, what benefits are available for caregiving, and how might benefits impact household income long-term?
Caregiving and Retirement: Social Security and the Financial Strain of Eldercare
Caregivers often turn to Social Security payments to make ends meet, leaving them in a vulnerable position later in life.
Unseen Costs: How Providing Eldercare Impacts Work and Economic Security
Women are more likely to receive care, and many other findings from a study of HRS, ATUS, and CPS data.
Left Behind Twice: Fixing Social Security for Formerly Incarcerated Elders
Older adults leaving prison face a Catch-22 of bureaucracy, digital ignorance and limited help when applying for benefits.
Understanding Late Arriving Immigrants’ Social Security Eligibility and Retirement Security
This overlooked group faces steep barriers to finding work and then to accessing social safety net programs.
The Social Security Retirement Earnings Test
What lower-income workers and retirees need to know.
Supporting LGBTQ Older Adults in Retirement Through Research and Advocacy
Analyzing previous research in this cohort and new study group findings on financial issues in retirement.
The Precarity Trap
Employment instability in midlife and the challenge of working full-time past age 62.
InsideTransformative Approaches to Social Security BenefitsGenerations Journal
Generations Journal, vol. 49, no. 3 (Fall 2025)
On Timing, Termination, and Suppression of Research and Science
This issue of Generations Journal is precious—simultaneously a monument to a bygone era and a plea for continued research and policy attention to those left behind from the promise of Social Security. In 2023, we proposed a special issue presenting research...
The Complex Impact of ‘On’ and ‘Off the Books’ Work
My mother (Ruth Finkelstein) used to say that she fell into the next phase of her life. Like many independent older adults, a fall catapulted her from a fulfilling life in her lovely apartment into the gray zone of assisted and then institutional living. In between...
Contending With Home Care Needs After a Work Disability
Abstract Workers who become disabled may need some level of home care, such as help with dressing, bathing, cooking, or shopping. Family members usually provide this care, but it may come at a cost to households facing economic precarity. This article describes the...
Caregiving and Retirement: Social Security and the Financial Strain of Eldercare
Abstract Unpaid caregivers provide essential support for older family members in the United States, often at significant personal and financial cost. With no universal infrastructure for long-term care, caregivers may turn to programs like Social Security for relief....
Unseen Costs: How Providing Eldercare Impacts Work and Economic Security
Abstract This study investigates how unpaid eldercare impacts caregivers’ work and financial security, highlighting that women and caregivers of color disproportionately bear these responsibilities. We find that in addition to shifting the costs to informal...
Left Behind Twice: Fixing Social Security for Formerly Incarcerated Elders
Abstract Older adults released from long prison terms face serious barriers when applying for Social Security benefits. Through interviews with formerly incarcerated individuals and service providers, we found that most received little or no support before release,...
Understanding Late Arriving Immigrants’ Social Security Eligibility and Retirement Security
Abstract Late-arriving immigrants constitute the largest segment (49%) of Social Security “never beneficiaries,” lacking adequate earnings to qualify for benefits. Many such immigrants work into their older years, due to financial constraints and the pursuit of Social...
The Social Security Retirement Earnings Test
Abstract This article explains how the Social Security Retirement Earnings Test works and why it is particularly relevant for lower-income workers and retirees. It presents original evidence on how misunderstood this important but complex feature of the Social...
Supporting LGBTQ Older Adults in Retirement Through Research and Advocacy
Abstract Despite the increasing numbers of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/gender diverse, queer, and other (LGBTQ+) adults in the United States, there is a dearth of information on their financial well-being as they age. Available data indicate that LGBTQ+...
The Precarity Trap
Abstract Precarious (insecure, unstable, and uncertain) employment is a growing concern. Using nationally representative data on workers ages 50 through 62 from the Health and Retirement Study, we find that precarious employment in midlife is common, particularly...
Cash Is King: Effects of Un(der)reported Income on the Social Safety Net
Abstract This mixed-methods study examines the impact of cash work and income underreporting on two U.S. communities of color. We investigate how African Americans and Latinos obtain knowledge about Social Security and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), make...
Student Debt Is Not Just for Kids
Abstract The individualized responsibility of student loan repayments impacts the retirement security of older Americans with education debt. Our mixed methods study combines quantitative analysis of large-scale datasets and detailed interviews to understand how older...
Computers Block Access to Social Security
Abstract The digital transformation of government services has intensified over the past three decades, but many older adults remain more familiar with mobile apps than web-based services, and often prefer in-person on phone-based help with accessing benefits. This...
Burn Out Reimagined: Extreme Heat, Work Disability, and Sociodemographic Disparities in America
Abstract The intersection of climate change and population aging presents challenges for an increasingly older U.S. labor force. Exposure to extreme heat at work is associated with mortality and morbidity, but little is known about how exposure to heat at work relates...
Uprooted in Later Life
Abstract We analyzed displacement by natural disasters and consequences for well-being among individuals ages 65 and older, interviewed between September 2023 and September 2024 in the nationally representative, high-frequency U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse...
Suggested citation for articles in this issue: [Last Name(s), First Name(s)]. “Article Title.” Generations Journal, vol. [#], no. [#] [season and year (ex. Fall 2024)]. [URL]
About Generations Journal
Generations Journal is the quarterly journal of the American Society on Aging. Each issue is devoted to bringing together the most useful and current knowledge about a specific topic in the field of aging, with emphasis on practice, research, and policy.