During summer 2007 the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) issued two reports confirming a disturbing trend in America - workers can’t afford to retire. EBRI is the foremost retirement research organization in the country.

The EBRI reports confirm that the demise in employer-provided pensions and retiree health benefits in the Untied States are having a dramatic effect on the careers of working men and women. And, while these trends have now been observed and documented for two decades, the U.S. Congress continues to do virtually nothing to alleviate the problem.

The EBRI reports tracked the labor force participation of older workers from 1993 to 2006, utilizing U.S. census data. The reports found a very significant increase in the numbers of older workers who are remaining in full-time employment.

From 1993 to 2006 the percent of workers over age 55 who continued in full-time employment increased by 29%. The rate for only those workers older than 65 increased by 37.5%. The report also found that these numbers have gone up every year without a single downturn.

Not surprisingly, EBRI concluded that this change in labor force behavior is likely being driven by the expense of health insurance, which has become virtually unavailable to workers who leave employment, and by the shift to 401(k) retirement plans which increasingly leave workers without adequate funds to pay for a decent retirement.

There have been a variety of studies in recent years documenting the run-away increases in health care costs, that have forced small employers to cancel health care insurance and large employers to shift more of the expense of health care insurance to their employees.

Likewise, the demise of defined benefit pensions has been well documented, with the cost of retirement being shifted to workers through 401(k) plans. Accordingly, workers moving into what used to be considered their retirement years, are now faced with the challenge of the escalating costs of health care, and the financial insecurity of 401(k) retirement income.

Faced with these realities, the EBRI reports confirm that workers are choosing the only real alternative they have for retirement - keep working.

While politicians may argue about whether global warming is real or imagined, there can be no dispute that the retirement crisis is real --- all available data confirm it. The question is when will politicians act to avert this crisis? As national elections approach in 2008, candidates at every level should be challenged to respond to the retirement crisis.

Until there is a national response, only those fortunate enough to have defined benefit pensions, such as those available to members of the International Union of Operating Engineers, can have any expectation of real retirement security.