Columbus Dispatch, September 16, 2009 —  A letter to the editor cites NIRS research indicating that defined-benefit-pension income reduces the risk of poverty and hardship among older Americans.

The Pension Factor notes that pension income resulted in a savings of $7.3 billion in public-assistance expenditures and 4.7 million fewer households in poverty or near poverty in 2006 in the United States.  More than 23 million older Americans received a defined-benefit pension that year.

Additionally, NIRS opinion research shows that 87 percent of all American workers believe they should have a pension so they can be self-reliant in retirement.

Read more here.