ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses several speculations based on the current experiences of minorities in three closely related areas—health, work, and retirement. Minority-nonminority group comparisons are often based on self-reports of health from subjects in national surveys. The issue is whether these reports mean the same, or are measured the same, for minorities as for nonminorities. Work patterns, and factors determining those work patterns, were found to be different for African American and white men and women. Retirement patterns, and the factors that determine them, appear to be different for whites, African Americans, and Mexican Americans. African and Puerto Rican Americans often have been at the bottom when minorities were ranked on measure of health, work, and retirement. Special attention needs to be devoted to these especially disadvantaged groups—and to Native Americans—in future research, planning, programs, and services. Lower-level occupations and wages and more sporadic work patterns over a lifetime are leading causes of minorities’ low levels of retirement income.
