Number: RL33116
Title: Retirement Plan Participation and Contributions: Trends from 1998 to 2003
Authors: Patrick Purcell, Domestic Social Policy Division 
Abstract: From February through May of 2003, the U.S. Census Bureau collected information on participation in employer-sponsored retirement plans among individuals in more than 29,000 U.S. households through the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). These data represent the most comprehensive source of information available on workers' participation in employer-sponsored retirement plans from a nationally representative sample of American households. The analysis in this report focuses on workers 18 and older with a paid job in the private sector. Public sector workers and the self-employed have been excluded from the analysis because neither group is covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA, P.L. 93-406), the federal law that governs many aspects of employer-sponsored pensions. According to the data collected by the Census Bureau, there were 97.7 million people age 18 and older with a paid job in the private sector in an average month in the first half of 2003. Of this number, 63.2 million (64.8%) worked for an employer that sponsored a pension or a retirement savings plan - such as a §401(k) plan - and 45.7 million (46.8%) participated in an employer-sponsored retirement plan.
Pages: 24
Date: October 12, 2005