Dayforce, Inc. (NYSE: DAY; TSX: DAY), a global human capital management (HCM) leader that makes work life better, today released The Retirement Divide, a new report that shows deep and growing disparities in how American workers are saving for retirement.
The research examines trends in retirement savings rates, employee and employer contributions, participation in employer and individual retirement plans, and loan use among the full-time U.S. workforce from 2021 to 2024. It offers unprecedented and highly detailed insights into how gender, race and ethnicity, age, and income have a profound impact on the retirement savings of workers.
“We believe this research should serve as both a wake-up call and a call to action,” said Jason Rahlan, Global Head of Sustainability & Impact at Dayforce, Inc. “For far too many people, the promise of a secure retirement is drifting further out of reach. Our hope is that these findings will be used to help millions more workers make progress towards the secure retirement they’ve worked hard for and deserve.”
Key findings
- High earners pull ahead as lower-income workers fall behind: While participation rates, total contributions, and overall savings rates increased since 2022 for workers making more than $150,000, they all declined for those making less than $150,000. Most dramatically, workers making less than $50,000 saw the steepest drops – with participation in an employer or individual retirement plan moving from 58% to 52.9%, and their overall savings rates dropping from 4.9% to 4.6%.
- Retirement participation gap widens for women: The gap in participation between men and women increased to 3.9 percentage points (79.9% vs. 76%) since 2021.
- Racial disparities persist in retirement participation and loan usage: In 2024, 84.6% of white workers participated in an employer or individual retirement plan, compared to only 61.1% of Latino workers and 68.2% of Black workers. Also in 2024, 26.4% of Black and Latino plan participants had an active loan from one of their accounts, compared to just 14.9% of white plan participants.
- Gen Z makes meaningful progress in saving: Since 2022, participation rates, savings rates, and total contributions for full-time Gen Z workers increased at a faster rate than for all other generations – with participation rising from 64% to 68.7%, savings rates improving from 6.6% to 7.2%, and total contributions rising by 24%.
“The Retirement Divide reveals for the first time the true state of retirement savings in America,” said Matt Bahl, Vice President for Workplace Financial Health at the Financial Health Network. “Every American should have the opportunity to retire securely and with dignity, and this report shines a light on the large and growing inequalities that lie at the core of our nation’s retirement insecurity crisis.”
Additional Information
- Read the full report
- Read the fact sheet
- Learn more on the blog
Report Methodology
Dayforce assessed anonymized data from clients who opted into a program where Dayforce can use their data for research purposes. Dayforce implements technical and operational safeguards to help protect the data from unauthorized disclosure and ensure it is not possible to reidentify individuals. The data points used from these records are in aggregate and include gender, race and ethnicity, age, and annual gross income. 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), traditional and Roth IRA, ESOP, and pensions were the types of retirement plans included in this research.
For a more detailed methodology, please contact allison.hacker@dayforce.com.
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