The restructuring of retirement in the United States as a consequence of falling rates of profit

Abstract

Using data collected from the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Social Security Administration this paper links declining economic prospects in retirement to the structural dynamics of capitalist production. Because of a tendency toward overproduction and falling rates of profit, the extra economic costs of support for the aged have come under pressure. As a result personal savings have declined, the numbers of persons covered by pensions have fallen, and social security is threatened.