: Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, August); and John Merline (2012), “The Sharp Rise in Disability Claims (PDF)”, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Region Focus (Second/Third Quarter), pp. 24–26. 11  The effects of the Great Recession on retirements are difficult to identify.
During the recession and immediately after, the losses in wealth may have put upward pressure on labor force participation; the persistently weak labor market may have subsequently contributed to more retirements and thus put downward pressure on participation. Perhaps as a result of these confounding forces, early research on the effects of the Great Recession on retirement finds unclear results.