TERESA GHILARDUCCI

CURRICULUM VITAE

Education

1985 Ph.D, Economics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
1978 B.A., Economics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

Professional Appointments

  • Co-Director, New York Social Security Research Consortium, 2023 – Present

  • Research Associate, Economics Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, July 2020 – Present

  • Professor, Irene and Bernard L Schwartz Professor of Economic Policy Analysis, The New School, 2008 – Present

  • Director, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis, The New School, 2008 – Present

  • Professor, Economics and Policy Studies, University of Notre Dame, 2005 – 2007

  • Director, Higgins Labor Research Center, University of Notre Dame, 1997 – 2007

  • Associate and Assistant Professor, Economics, University of Notre Dame, 1983 – 2005

Selected Honors and Appointments

Trustee: UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust for the UAW retirees at GM, Ford, and Chrysler, May 2009 – Present
Board Member: Economic Policy Institute, (Executive Board since May 2010) and Associate since 1994) September 2008 – Present
Trustee: Retirees of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company Health Care Trust, May 2008 – Present
Member, General Accounting Office Retirement Policy Advisory Panel: Washington, DC, 2002 – Present
Commissioner: Bipartisan Policy Center, Personal Savings Initiative, April 2014 – 2016
Board of Directors: YRCW Worldwide Corp., May 2010 – May 2011
Wurf Fellow, Harvard Law School, Labor and Worklife Program, 2007 – 2009
Commissioner: Governor Schwarzenegger’s Public Employee Post-Employment Benefits Commission. 2007
Advisory Board Member: Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (Presidential Appointment), 1995 – 2002
Member, Board of Trustees: Indiana Public Employees’ Retirement Fund (PERF) (Governor's Appointment), 1997 – 2002
Awardee: European Union Visitors Programme, March 20 – April 3, 1995, The Hague, Bonn, Brussels

Professional Experience

Instructor, “U.S. Income and Wealth Inequality,” The Century Foundation Sagner Summer Programs, Williams College, Williamstown, MA. (June 22 – July 2, 1999; June 23 – July 15, 2000; July 1 – July 8, 2001; July 1 – 8, 2002; June 27 – July 6, 2003)
Assistant Director, Department of Employee Benefits, AFL-CIO, September 1994 – May 1995 (during leave from the University of Notre Dame)
In Residence Fellowship, Mary Ingraham Bunting Institute, Harvard University and Radcliffe College, 1987 – 1988
Research Assistant, Institute of Industrial Relations, University of California, Berkeley, 1979 – 1983

Selected Grants Received

Social Security Administration, Retirement and Disability Research Consortium (RDRC), with the Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging and Hunter College and the CUNY Center for Demographic Research, $1,900,000
One Project, “Economics for All” with Professor William Milberg and Professor Paulo dos Santos. 2021. $250,000
RRF Foundation for Aging, “Older Workers and Retirement Security Chartbook” with the Economic Policy Institute. 2021. $150,000
Hewlett Foundation, “Barriers to Success of Heterodox Economics Series” with Professor William Milberg. 2019. $65,000

Selected Publications

Books

Work, Retire, Repeat: The Uncertainty of Retirement in the New Economy. University of Chicago Press. December 2023.
Rescuing Retirement: A Plan to Guarantee Retirement Security for All Americans. With Tony James. New York: Columbia University Press. January 2018.
How to Retire with Enough Money and How to Know What Enough Is. Workman Press. December 2015.
When I'm Sixty Four: The Plot Against Pensions and the Plan to Save Them. Princeton University Press. April 2008.
Labor's Capital: The Economics and Politics of Private Pensions. MIT Press, 1992. (Award: Honorable Mention, Association of American Publishers, Business and Management Division, 1992.)
Portable Pension Plans for Casual Labor Markets: Lessons from the Operating Engineers Central Pension Fund. With Garth Mangum, Jeffrey S. Petersen, and Peter Philips. Quorum Books, Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. 1995.

Edited Volumes

America in (Retirement) Crisis: What Does the Future Hold for Our Nation's Older Workers? Edited volume with Siavash Radpour. Generations, American Society on Aging. Fall 2019.
Work Options for Mature Americans. Edited volume with John A. Turner. University of Notre Dame Press. Spring 2007.
In Search of Retirement Security: The Changing Mix of Social Insurance, Employee Benefits, and Individual Responsibility. With Van Doorn Ooms, John L. Palmer, and Catherine Hill, editors. New York: Century Foundation Press. 2005.
What You Need to Know about the Economics of Growing Old* (*But Were Afraid to Ask): A Provocative Reference Guide to the Economics of Aging. University of Notre Dame Press. September 2004.

Refereed Articles

“Retirement Then and Now: Shortfalls in the Retirement System Will Fail Many Future American Retirees.” With Drystan Phillips, & Karthik Manickam. The Journal of Retirement. 2025.

“The False Promises of Working Longer." With Beth C. Truesdale. The Journal of Retirement. 2023.

"The Future of Heterodox Economics." With Zachary Knauss, Rick McGahey, William Milberg, and Drew Landes. Journal of Philosophical Economics. 2023.

"Retirement Plan Wealth Inequality: Measurement and Trends." With Siavash Radpour, Anthony Webb. Journal of Pension Economics & Finance 21 (1). Cambridge University Press: 119–39. 2022

"Monopsony Power, Race, and Gender." With Aida Farmand. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance. 2022.

"Physically Demanding Jobs and Involuntary Retirement Worsen Retirement Insecurity for Older Workers." Status of Older Workers Report Series. With Jessica Forden, Siavash Radpour, and Eva Conway. Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at The New School for Social Research. New York, NY. 2022.

"Practical Applications of The Illusory Benefit of Working Longer on Retirement Financial Preparedness: Rethinking Advice That Working Longer Increases Retirement Income. Practical Applications." With Michael Papadopoulos and Anthony Webb, 2022.

"Retirement reforms are Necessary—so is strengthening Social Security." With Owen Davis, Siavash Radpour, and Eva Conway. Policy Note Series, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at The New School for Social Research. New York, NY. 2022.

"A universal retirement plan can reduce inequality and prevent downward mobility in retirement." With Siavash Radpour, and Eva Conway. Policy Note Series, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at The New School for Social Research. New York, NY. 2022.

"The Illusory Benefit of Working Longer on Retirement Financial Preparedness: Rethinking Advice That Working Longer Increases Retirement Income." With Michael Papadopoulos and Anthony Webb. The Journal of Retirement. 2022.

"How to Think about Our Children's Children: Warmth: Coming of Age at the End of Our World, Daniel Sherrell." Social Research: An International Quarterly 89, no. 2 : 285-295. 2022

"Gender, Family Histories, and Late-Life Economic Well-Being." With Deborah Carr. Innov Aging. 5(Suppl 1): 240, 2021.

"No 'Great Resignation' for Older Workers—Mass Job Loss Drove the Retirement Surge." With Barbara Schuster, Siavash Radpour and Eva Conway. Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), The New School. 2022.

"The Stalled Jobs Recovery Pushed 1.1 Million Older Workers Out of The Labor Force." With Owen Davis, Bridget Fisher and Siavash Radpour, SCEPA publication series. 2021-01, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), The New School. 2021.

"Trends in Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan Access and Participation Rates: Reconciling Different Data Sources." With Siavash Radpour and Micheal Papadopoulos. Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA) (No. 2021-02)., The New School. 2021.

"Working Longer Not a Panacea Considering the Number of Low-wage Work Options." With Barbara Schuster. ASA Generations. 2021.

“How Expanding EITC Will Benefit 1.5 Million Low-Income Older Workers." With Aida Farmand, Bridget Fisher and Siavash Radpour. Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), The New School. 2021.

"Heterodox Economics: What It Is, Where It Came From, and Why It Matters" With Rick McGahey, William Milberg, and Zachary Knauss. Economics and Philosophy. 2020.

"The Impact of Automation on Older Workers: What Should We Do About It?" With Bridget Fisher and Siavash Radpour. Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), The New School. 2020.

"Making Old People Work: Three False Assumptions Supporting the 'Working Longer Consensus.'" Journal of Politics & Society. Vol. 49, Iss. 1. February 2021.

"Older Workers Face New Risks because of the COVID-19 Recession." With Aida Farmand and Siavash Radpour. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Workforce Currents. September, 3 2020. 2020 - 11.

"Retirement Plan Wealth Inequality: Measurement And Trends." Journal of Pension Economics and Finance. 2020.

"Older Workers on the COVID-19-Frontlines without Paid Sick Leave.” With Aida Farmand. Journal of Aging & Social Policy, Vol. 32, No. 4-5, May 2020.

"Older Worker Exploitation: Magnitude, Causes, and Solutions." With Siavash Radpour. Generations, Vol 43, No. 3, 2019.

"Bargaining Power is Falling for America's Older Workers." Generations. 2019.

"The Inequitable Effects of Raising the Retirement Age on Blacks and Low-Wage Workers." With Kyle Moore & Anthony Webb. The Review of Black Political Economy, Vol. 46, No. 1, 2019.

"New Evidence on the Effect of Economic Shocks on Retirement Plan Withdrawals." With Siavash Radpour & Anthony Webb. The Journal of Retirement. 2019

"Modernizing the American Private Pension System Plan for the Future of Work." Benefits Law Journal, Vol. 31, No. 4, Winter 2018.

"Retirement Savings Inequality: Different Effects of Earnings Shocks, Portfolio Selections, and Employer Contributions by Worker Earnings Level" With Joelle Saad-Lessler & Gayle L. Reznik. Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 78, No. 3, 2018.

"Catch-Up Contributions: An Equitable and Affordable Solution to the Retirement Savings Crisis." With Michael Papadopoulos, Wei Sun, & Anthony Webb. Public Policy & Aging Report. Vol. 28, No, 1, 2018, Pages S4–S14.

"Intersectionality and Stratification in the Labor Market" With Kyle Moore. American Society on Aging. Vol. 42, No. 2, Summer 2018, pp. 34-40(7).

"The Distribution of Time in Retirement: Evidence From the Health and Retirement Survey." With Anthony Webb. Work, Aging and Retirement, Vol. 4, No. 3, July 2018, p. 251-261.

"Earnings Volatility and 401(k) Contributions." With Joelle Saad-Lesler and Gayle Reznik. Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Vol. 17, No. 4, Fall 2018.

Selected Congressional and State Legislature Testimony

Alaska State Legislature’s House Finance Committee. Testimony “How Pension Reform Affects Alaska's Economic Performance.” February 11, 2025.

Alaska State Legislature House Labor and Commerce Standing Committee. Testimony: Pensions and the Economics of Retirement. April 12, 2024.

U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Full Committee Hearing. “Taking a Serious Look at the Retirement Crisis in America: What Can We Do to Expand Defined Benefit Pension Plans for Workers?” February 28, 2024.

Alaska State Senate. Testimony on Senate Bill 88: Retirement systems; defined benefit option. Alaska State Legislature. January 23, 2024.

U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, Written Testimony. “Building A Better Labor Market: Empowering Older Workers for A Stronger Economy.” February 9, 2022.

U.S. Department of Labor, 2021 Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans. “Gaps in Retirement Savings Based on Race, Ethnicity and Gender." August 26, 2021.

U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor, Oral and Written Testimony. “100 Years of Progress in Equalizing Retirement is Under Dire Threat." June 23, 2021.

U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget, Oral and Written Testimony. "Where Typical Americans Have Their Wealth.” March 17, 2021.

U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Oral and Written Testimony. “Does Wall Street Always Win? GameStop, Robinhood, and Retail Investors.” March 9, 2021.