Low Defined Contribution Savings May Pose Challenges, GAO-16-408: Published: May 5, 2016. Publicly Released: May 5, 2016.

“An estimated 40 percent of all U.S. households had some retirement savings in a defined contribution (DC) plan, such as a 401(k) plan, in 2013, and account balances varied by household income and race in recent years, according to the most recent data from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). The 60 percent of all households (and specifically the 44 percent of working households) without any DC savings in 2013 may result from several factors. Approximately 39 percent of working households lacked access to, or were not eligible to participate in, an employer-sponsored DC plan at their job in 2013. Low-income households and Black and Hispanic households were even less likely to have access to a DC plan at their workplaces or to have DC savings. For example, GAO found that approximately 25 percent of working, low-income households had any savings in a DC plan compared to 81 percent of working, high-income households. Additionally, access and account balances declined for some, but not all, groups during the recent recession and recovery from 2007 to 2013. For example, Black working households’ median DC plan balance declined by $14,700 (in 2015 dollars), from $31,100 in 2007 to $16,400 in 2013. Meanwhile, White working households’ median DC balance did not change significantly over the same period. By 2013, White households’ median DC balances were more than three times larger than for Black and Hispanic households’.”