The Future of Pensions in the United States

Well documented demographic changes, combined with the current discussions of emerging structural shifts in the economy, have caused many experts to express concern about the capacity of the United States to provide retirement income and medical care to the growing number of elderly individuals. Weak economic conditions in some sectors and resultant financial problems at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation have even threatened the concept of a pension guarantee. Furthermore, the mounting federal deficit has incited clamor for cutbacks in the preferential treatment accorded pension plans. If economic growth rates do not mirror historical averages, the elderly may have to choose whether to retire with a lower standard of living or to work longer. The essays presented in The Future of Pensions in the United States address the interaction of the changing demographic and economic environment with the competing federal fiscal and regulatory stakes in employer-sponsored retirement income arrangements. In providing a comprehensive backdrop for assessing the future of pensions for private and public sector employees in the United States, this volume should prove instrumental to employee benefits providers and specialists, labor leaders, government policymakers, and others seeking to contribute to the formulation of a coherent retirement income policy to guide our nation into the twenty-first century.