America faces a retirement crisis, as a substantial number of working families are not saving enough to meet their needs in retirement. Several national studies show anywhere from half to two-thirds of working families are at risk of not being able to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living. Low-income working families are most at risk. A report by our Director of Policy and Research Rich Jones, commissioned by the Working Poor Families Project, analyzes in detail the steps states have taken to address the problem.

The best way to save for retirement is to participate in a workplace savings plan and put away a portion of each paycheck. However, about 40 percent of all workers in the U.S. work for employers that do not sponsor a retirement savings plan. In Colorado, that number goes up to 45 percent. Low and middle-income workers are twice as likely not to have access to a workplace retirement savings plan, as are high-income workers.

To help more workers save for retirement, five states are creating public-private partnerships to design and operate workplace retirement savings plans for private sector workers who do not have access to one. These are similar to the Colorado Secure Savings Plan the Bell advocated for in the last legislative session. For more information about Colorado’s retirement crisis, read our 2014 Retirement at Risk report or 2016 Colorado Workers Face a Retirement Crisis report.