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The impact of the recession on the wealth of older immigrant and native households in the United States

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  • Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes
  • Susan Pozo

Abstract

Using the 2006 and 2010 Health and Retirement Study, we explore how the recent recession impacted the wealth holding and retirement plans of older households in the United States. Of particular interest to us is whether the impact on household asset ownership, asset wealth and household retirement behavior varied with the nativity of the household and its standing in the wealth distribution prior to the onset of the recession. We find that the so-called Great Recession made a significant dent on the portfolios of older American households by eroding the value of specific assets to the point of delaying their planned retirement. Furthermore, its impacts were unevenly distributed across demographic and economic groups, with mixed and immigrant households in the middle and top wealth quartiles prior to the recession enduring significantly larger wealth losses than natives due, primarily, to their greater losses in primary housing ownership and primary housing values. JEL codes: D31; J26 Copyright Amuedo-Dorantes and Pozo; licensee Springer. 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Susan Pozo, 2015. "The impact of the recession on the wealth of older immigrant and native households in the United States," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-27, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:izalpo:v:4:y:2015:i:1:p:1-27:10.1186/s40173-015-0033-x
    DOI: 10.1186/s40173-015-0033-x
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    Cited by:

    1. Graziella Bertocchi & Marianna Brunetti & Anzelika Zaiceva, 2023. "The Financial Decisions of Immigrant and Native Households: Evidence from Italy," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 9(1), pages 117-174, March.
    2. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Cristina Borra, 2018. "Emerging wealth disparities after the storm: Evidence from Spain," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 1119-1149, December.
    3. Ricci, Chiara Assunta & Scicchitano, Sergio, 2021. "The role of Great Recession on income polarization by population groups," GLO Discussion Paper Series 766, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Amuedo-Dorantes Catalina & Borra Cristina, 2017. "Retirement Decisions in Recessionary Times: Evidence from Spain," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(2), pages 1-21, April.
    5. Chiara Assunta Ricci & Sergio Scicchitano, 2021. "Decomposing changes in income polarization by population group: what happened during the crisis?," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 38(1), pages 235-259, April.
    6. Graziella Bertocchi & Marianna Brunetti & Anzelika Zaiceva, 2018. "The Financial Decisions of Immigrant and Native Households: Evidence from Italy," Department of Economics 0138, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Great recession; Wealth; Older households; Immigrants; Natives;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies

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