Employer-sponsored retirement benefits cover a large share of the U.S. workforce, but access and participation varies substantially between private-industry workers and state and local government employees, according to recent findings from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The BLS says 72% of private-industry workers have access to retirement benefits, and 52% participate in retirement plans. Conversely, among state and local government workers, 92% had access to retirement benefits and 81% participated in retirement plans.
A summary released Sept. 25 of the BLS report on Employee Benefits in the U.S., provided data on access and participation rates for two retirement savings options: defined benefit plans that guarantee a specific monthly payout upon retirement, and defined contribution plans in which the balance in an individual worker’s retirement account depends on the amount of employee and employer contributions and the investment gains and losses on those contributions.
The BLS said that of the 72% of private sector workers who have access to retirement benefits, most (70%) had access to defined contribution plans, which had a 49% participation rate, and 14% of had access to defined benefit retirement plans, with a 9% participation rate.
The situation is reversed for state and local government workers. Of the 92% with access to retirement benefits, 86% had access to defined benefit plans, with a 75% participation rate, and 39% had access to defined contribution plans with a 20% participation rate.
The BLS also reported these findings regarding other types of employer-sponsored workplace benefits for full-time private sector workers:
- 16% have access to childcare benefits
- 87% have access to healthcare benefits
- 52% have access to short-term disability benefits
- 88% have access to paid sick leave
- 59% have access to life insurance plans
