The Michigan Retirement and Disability Research Center (MRDRC) promotes high quality research on retirement, disability, and Social Security policy; communicates findings to the policy community and the public; enhances access to relevant research data; and helps to train new scholars. MRDRC serves the public and policy community as an authoritative source of information on a range of issues related to retirement and disability income security.
The MRDRC plans, initiates, and maintains a high-caliber research program. There is a special emphasis on issues related to long-range solvency of the Social Security system, retirement income policy and the protection of low-income workers and their families from economic loss due to retirement, death, or disability. The MRDRC also participates in the evaluation of retirement policies related to Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI). Close affiliation with the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research further strengthens the MRDRC’s resources for both research studies and educational activities related to retirement issues. The MRDRC includes research on a number of issues related to retirement, disability, and income security in retirement, always considering the policy implications of research findings. Topic areas include:
- Impact of Social Security program rules on individuals’ work and retirement decisions
- Macroeconomic and financial effects of changes in Social Security policy on national saving, investment, and economic growth
- Implication of trends in Social Security, private pensions, and private saving for future retirement income security
- Interactions of Social Security with other public and private programs
- Improving Communication, Outreach, and Service Delivery
- Disparities by Race and Ethnicity
- Impact of demographic and social change on Social Security