Employment-Based Retirement Plan Participation: Geographic Differences and Trends, 2009

44 Pages Posted: 23 Oct 2010

See all articles by Craig Copeland

Craig Copeland

Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)

Date Written: October 2010

Abstract

This paper closely examines the level of participation by workers in public- and private-sector employment-based pension or retirement plans, based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s March 2010 Current Population Survey (CPS), the most recent data currently available (for 2009). It shows that the employment-based retirement system remains a critical source of Americans’ retirement income security, and is under pressure from the recent economic downturn. Among full-time, full-year wage and salary workers ages 21-64 (those with the strongest connection to the work force), 61.8 percent worked for an employer or union that sponsors a plan. This is down almost a percentage point from 2008 and almost 8 percentage points lower than the sponsorship high point of 69.4 percent measured in 1999.

Among full-time, full-year wage and salary workers ages 21-64, 54.4 percent participated in a retirement plan in 2009. While the 2009 participation level for this full-time, full-year group is little changed from 54.8 percent in 2008, it marks the second straight annual decline and is down almost 6 percentage points from the high of 60.4 percent measured in 1999. Among all workers (including those who are not offered a retirement plan at work), 39.6 percent participated in a retirement plan in 2009, the first time in 15 years it dropped below 40 percent. Participation increases with age (61.2 percent for wage and salary workers ages 55-64, compared with 30.6 percent for those ages 21-24). Among wage and salary workers ages 21-64, men had a higher participation level than women, but among full-time, full-year workers, women had a higher percentage participating than men (55.8 percent for women, compared with 53.2 percent for men). Female workers’ lower probability of participation for wage and salary workers results from their overall lower earnings and lower rates of full-time work in comparison with males. Hispanic wage and salary workers were significantly less likely than both white and black workers to participate in a retirement plan. The gap between the percentages of black and white plan participants that exists overall narrows when compared across earnings levels. Wage and salary workers in the South, West, and Southwest had the lowest participation levels (Florida had the lowest percentage, at 42.9 percent) while the upper Midwest and Northeast had the highest levels (North Dakota had the highest participation level, at 64.2 percent). Other factors: White, higher-educated, higher-income, and married workers are more likely to participate than their counterparts.

While individual factors are important, retirement plan participation by workers is also strongly tied to macroeconomic factors such as stock market returns and the labor market. Better macroeconomic conditions of the late 1990s resulted in higher levels of participation, while less positive macroeconomic conditions of the 2000s led to lower levels of participation. Regardless of the current direction, this trend has important implications for workers, since having more opportunities to participate in an employment-based retirement plan greatly increases the amount of money a retiree is likely to have in retirement. The downturns in the economy and stock market in 2008 and into 2009 have shown a two-year decline in both the number and percentage of workers participating in an employment-based retirement plan. The 2009 levels, in many cases, are the lowest level since 1997. The economy has improved but the unemployment rate is still above the levels reported prior to the downturn of 2008 and 2009, which is likely to mean the 2010 numbers will not improve. Of course, the results in next year’s study from the 2011 CPS will show if the percentage of workers participating in a retirement plan started to rebound during 2010.

Keywords: Demographics, Employment-based benefits, Pension plan coverage, Pension plan participation, Retirement plans

JEL Classification: J33

Suggested Citation

Copeland, Craig, Employment-Based Retirement Plan Participation: Geographic Differences and Trends, 2009 (October 2010). EBRI Issue Brief, No. 348, October 2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1696161

Craig Copeland (Contact Author)

Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) ( email )

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