The Urban Institute’s Signe-Mary McKernan says that savings and wealth discrepancies are more critical than often-cited income inequality. By one measure, she found racial wealth inequality, or assets minus debts, to be three times worse than income inequality. Disadvantaged groups are less likely to own homes. Many aren’t offered retirement plans through employers, or they participate less frequently.

Inadequate retirement savings carry serious long-term implications for governments as well as citizens. They create an expanding cohort of residents who have to rely on government services or who might, for instance, miss property tax payments because they can’t pay other bills. “It matters not only for families and individuals, but for their cities and communities,” McKernan says.
— Read on www.governing.com/topics/mgmt/gov-retirement-inequality-savings-gap.html