b'AGING IN THE 21ST CENTURYCHAPTER 5 | TRACKING THE IMPACTOF THE GREAT RECESSIONThe Great Recession of 2007 to 2009 led to the loss of more than 7.5 million jobs in the US.At the peak of the recession, the unemployment rate was over 10%. At the same time,the crash of the housing and stock markets cost Americans trillions of dollars of wealth. The security of retirement plans was challenged by the same fall in asset prices and in some cases by cuts in employer contributions for current workers. An economic shock of this magnitude has implications for older Americans decisions about when to retire, how much to spend and how to invest. Even though older adults were more insulated from some aspects of the crisis, such as job loss and mortgage foreclosure, their children and other family members were often in need of support. Because the longitudinal HRS followed its members before, during, and after the Great Recession, it provides uniquely valuable data for researchers to track its impact on individualsand families. T here are substantial effects of theEffects of the Great Recession Gustman et al. (2010) examine this question recession on work expectations as wellby looking at the wealth of Early Baby Boomers, as actual work transitions. A number ofEffects on Wealth aged 53 to 58 in 2006, to see what losses they studies demonstrate that Americans seem toOne of the hallmark events of the Great Recessionwould be likely to experience as a result of the have adjusted their spending in response to thewas the substantial decline in stock marketdecline in value of both the stock and housing recession. While many older Americans weath- values, which dropped by more than 40% frommarkets. A major advantage of HRS data is its ered the Great Recession well, several studiesOctober 2007 to April 2009. The effects of thiscomprehensive coverage of sources of retirement support the concern that the downturn had adecline on those near retirement age mightwealth, especially non-liquid sources like defined disproportionate impact on certain vulnerabledepend on how much wealth they held in thebenefit (DB) pensions and Social Security groups. Future studies will evaluate the poten- stock market. What was their exposure? Did thebenefits. It turns out that stocks are not a large tial longer-term impact as more post-recessionrecovery mean a return of those losses? part of the retirement portfolio of Early Baby HRS data become available. Boomers, and DB pensions are still the dominant 84'