Employment-Based Retirement Plan Participation: Geographic Differences and Trends, 2006

Abstract

This paper 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 2007 Current Population Survey (CPS), the most recent data currently available. It begins with an overview of retirement plan types and participation in these types of plans. Next, it describes the data used in this study, along with their relative strengths and weaknesses. From these data, results on participation in employment-based retirement plans are analyzed for 2006 across various worker characteristics and those of their employers. The paper then explores retirement plan participation across U.S. geographic regions, including a state-by-state comparison and a comparison of certain consolidated statistical areas (CSAs). In addition to the results for 2006, trends from 1987-2006 in employment-based retirement plan participation are presented across many of the same worker and employer characteristics as used for 2006. The paper concludes with a discussion of this study's findings.

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

JEL Classification: J33