Who Is Eligible for U.S. Employer-Sponsored Pensions?

• Activity Number: 408
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 2, 2011 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Government Statistics
• Author(s): Patricia Jeanne Fisher*+
• Companies: U.S. Census Bureau
• Keywords: SIPP ; Employer Sponsored Pensions ; Retirement

Abstract

United States (U.S.) private firms as well as state and local governments and the federal government offer employer sponsored pension plans to their employees. In 2006, sixty percent of the U.S.workforce worked for an employer who offered one or more pension plans. Employer sponsored pension plans fall into three categories: a traditional defined benefit plan, an individual contribution plan or a cash balance plan. The U.S. does not require employers to offer pension plans to their employees. U.S. employers set their own conditions on qualification for pension coverage. Results can be used to understand differences between workers who are eligible to participate and those who are not. Results also draws upon the different types of pension plans offered by employers. This paper uses the 2001 and 2004 Panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) survey. The paper will ex