The Labor Center conducts research on workers’ retirement prospects in the context of threats to Social Security, the decline of secure workplace pensions, and the shift to individual investment accounts like 401(k)s. We also assess state policies and proposals that aim to improve retirement security in California and nationally.
Retirement Crisis
National- and state-level research on the crisis in retirement security.
Public Pensions
Issues in public pension systems in California and other states.
This blog post explains Social Security’s vital importance to millions of Californians, underscores its role as a key driver of the state economy, and highlights broad bipartisan support for sensible proposals to strengthen the system’s finances and enhance benefits for vulnerable groups.
Testimony by Nari Rhee before the U.S. House HELP Subcommittee highlighting the challenges that most American workers face in the existing retirement system and offering some considerations for integrating lifetime income products into 401(k) plans.
California can build on the success and lessons of ScholarShare, CalSavers, and CalABLE to provide affordable consumer banking services that meet the needs of economically marginalized communities through CalAccount.
This report finds that public pensions play an outsized role in the retirement security of every major demographic group in California, with the strongest impact on women and people of color. It is also a powerful tool for reducing wealth inequality. As private pension coverage declines, public pensions remain a critical bulwark of middle-class retirement security alongside Social Security, particularly for marginalized communities who have been historically shut out of other wealth-building opportunities.
This study analyzes the impact of defined benefit pensions, especially public pensions, on retirement income security and wealth distribution by race, gender, and educational attainment in the U.S. It serves as a companion report to Closing the Gap fact sheets, which are designed to inform the public about the social equity impact of pensions in each state and the District of Columbia.
January 14, 2026
Testimony before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions hearing on “Modernizing Retirement Policy for Today’s Workforce”
June 16, 2024
Column: She’s 80, washing dishes, and fighting for a better deal for younger workers
May 15, 2024
CalAccount: Building on California’s Financial Services Track Record
February 26, 2024
Nearing 80, she can no longer afford to own Arcadia’s Book Rack — or live in California
September 13, 2023
Public Pensions Support Race, Class, and Gender Equity in California
“The need to generate predictable income from 401(k)s is a legitimate, longstanding concern for plan sponsors and policymakers,” Rhee testified. “But given the complexity of annuity products, workers need robust guardrails against unnecessary costs and risks.”
Rhee offered a broader point echoed by several Democrats during the hearing: For most workers, retirement insecurity is driven by wages and cost-of-living pressures that limit the ability to save in the first place.
Rhee also cautioned that the “pricing can be opaque for annuities,” such as the lifetables used and upside lost from variable annuities. “It’s not like a target-date fund, it’s a lot more complicated,” she said.
Nari Rhee, director of the UC Berkeley Labor Center’s Retirement Security Program, also cautioned that “any move to expand the use of annuities as a default investment must include strong guardrails to protect employees’ hard earned savings.”
“As this committee considers potential steps to further include complex lifetime income products to 401(k) plans, I urge you to prioritize the majority of our workforce that is being failed by our retirement system, not just through lack of access to employer sponsored retirement plans, but through low wages that make it difficult to save, especially when housing, food, and healthcare are increasingly unaffordable,” concluded Nari Rhee.
Nari Rhee
Director, Retirement Security Program
