The results of a new survey show that half of Americans save money, which is supposed to be the main finding of the research. More importantly, the data show half of Americans do not save, which is more important as people age.

In the America Saves 9th annual survey, respondents said the amount of their income saved rose from 47% in the previous survey to 52%. The bad news was that:

“Our survey findings are consistent with both continued economic recovery and the persistence of inequality,” noted Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America and a founder of America Saves. “Americans are saving a little more effectively today than a year ago, but only a minority are doing so very successfully,” he added

The information confirms a terrible trend, which is that many Americans lack enough money to retire on. The data demonstrate:

Almost half of respondents said they were “saving enough for a retirement” with “a desirable standard of living” (55%), save at least 10 percent of their income (52%), and, among the non-retired, save at work (49%).

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Therefore, many of respondents face grim retirement years, or may not retire at all. One theory about how this damages the economy is that older people hold down jobs that previously would go to younger Americans. The normal progress in employment patterns has tipped in a direction that hurts employment rates for people in their 20s.

The research also confirms that the money held as savings is barely enough to cover a single event, in some cases:

A large and increasing majority of respondents also reported improvements it their consumer indebtedness. In the past year, the portion who said they had no consumer debt, or were reducing their consumer debt, rose from 76 percent to 78 percent. And respondents who said they had “sufficient emergency savings to pay for unexpected expenses like car repairs or a doctor visit” rose from 64 percent to 66 percent.

So much for buying a new car, at least on credit.

Methodology: Nearly 1,700 nonprofit, government and business organizations at the national, state and local levels have joined to promote personal savings. America Saves, managed by the Consumer Federation of America, the American Savings Education Council and the Employee Benefit Research Institute, coordinate the Week, including the savings survey, which again was undertaken by ORC International. This research firm interviewed a representative sample of 1,009 adult Americans between January 29 and February 1, 2015, by landline and cell phone.

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