How many American workers participate in workplace retirement plans?
Date Published:
Thursday, January 18, 2018 Annual figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics help paint a picture of the number of Americans who participate in a retirement plan at work. Typically in any year only half of workers participate in a retirement plan at work. In 2017 participation by all civilian workers, full and part-time, was 54 percent. The information below comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ National Compensation Survey for 2017.
All workers: private-sector, state and local government workers. (135 million full and part-time workers):
| Percentage of workers participating in a workplace retirement plan: | 54 |
| Percentage of workers participating in a pension plan: | 23 |
| Percentage of workers participating in a retirement savings plan: | 40 |
| Percentage of all workers participating in a retirement plan who are in a pension plan: | 43* |
*(31.1 million workers. Pension Rights Center calculations based on NCS data.)
Private-sector workers. (116 million full and part-time workers):
| Percentage of private-sector workers participating in a workplace retirement plan: | 50 |
| Percentage of private-sector workers participating in a pension plan: | 15 |
| Percentage of private-sector workers participating in a retirement savings plan: | 44 |
| Percentage of private-sector workers participating in a retirement plan who are in a pension plan: | 30* |
*(17.4 million workers. Pension Rights Center calculations based on NCS data.)
State and local government workers. (19 million full and part-time workers):
| Percentage of workers participating in a workplace retirement plan: | 80 |
| Percentage of workers participating in a pension plan: | 74 |
| Percentage of workers participating in a retirement savings plan: | 16 |
| Percentage of state and local government workers participating in a retirement plan who are in a pension plan: | 92.5* |
*(14.3 million workers. Pension Rights Center calculations based on NCS data.)
Tags: Statistics
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Did You Know?
A defined benefit plan is a pension plan, usually funded entirely by employer contributions, that pays benefits according to a formula. The formula is typically based on the participant's wages or salary and length of time spent working for an employer or group of employers. Defined benefit plans are also known as traditional or guaranteed pensions.
