The Pension Factor: Assessing the Role of Defined Benefit Plans in Reducing Elder Hardships
Defined benefit pension income plays a critical role in reducing the risk of poverty and hardship for older Americans. Poverty rates among older households lacking pension income are about six times greater than those with such income.
The study finds that pensions reduce – and in some cases eliminate – the greater risk of poverty and public assistance dependence that women and minority populations otherwise would face, The Pension Factor reveals.
Key findings indicate that pension receipt among older American households in 2006 was associated with:
1.72 million fewer poor households and 2.97 million fewer near-poor households
560,000 fewer households experiencing a food hardship
380,000 fewer households experiencing a shelter hardship
320,000 fewer households experiencing a health care hardship
1.35 million fewer households receiving means-tested public assistance
$7.3 billion in public assistance expenditures savings, representing about 8.5 percent of aggregate public assistance dollars received by all American households for the same benefit programs
Debunking the Job-Hopping Myth: A Data-Driven Look at Tenure and Turnover Among Younger Workers
Contrary to popular belief that Millennials and Generation Z employees are constantly switching jobs, new research from the National Institute on Retirement Security finds that younger workers today show job retention patterns that closely mirror previous generations at the same stage of their careers.
Evolution and Growth: How Public Pension Plans Have Diversified Their Investments Amid Changing Markets
A report from the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) and Aon examines the changes public pension plan investing has undergone throughout the twenty-first century.
Pensionomics 2025: Measuring the Economic Impact of Defined Benefit Pension Expenditures
Pensionomics 2025: Measuring the Economic Impact of Defined Benefit Pension Expenditures finds pending powered by U.S. private and public sector defined benefit pensions contributed significantly to the economy. In 2022, retiree spending of public and private sector pension benefits generated $1.5 trillion in total economic output, supporting 7.1 million jobs across the nation.
In partnership with AARP and NRTA, NIRS has developed a series of state-by-state infographic fact sheets regarding the public employee and teacher retirement systems across the country.
These fact sheets present a snapshot of these retirement systems along with key data from NIRS research and other sources.
