Industry News

On June 1, 2022, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) released its report, Pensions and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) – An Overview. The report provides an overview of public and private sector employer-sponsored pensions including: 1) defined benefit (DB) pension plans; 2) defined contribution (DC) pension plans; 3) IRAs (including IRA-based retirement plans); and 4) state-facilitated retirement savings programs for private-sector workers. The report is intended to provide a framework for understanding current legislative efforts by lawmakers to help improve retirement security.

According to CRS, over 70% of U.S. workers had access to pension plans at their workplace and about 56% participated in those plans. Most public-sector employees are covered by pension plans with most participating in DB plans rather than DC plans. In March 2021, about 92% of all state and local government employees had access to a pension plan and about 82% participated in a pension plan. Among state and local government workers, 86% had access to DB plans and 75% participated in those plans. Furthermore, 38% of all state and local government workers had access to DC plans and 18% participated in those plans.

The report is available here.