Nearly two-thirds of private industry workers had access to a retirement plan in March 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and 48% of workers with access to a plan chose to participate.
Having access to a retirement defined benefit pension or defined contribution plan through work depended on occupation, full- or part-time status, union membership and wage category, according to the BLS.
Those who worked in management, professional and related occupations had nearly twice the access rate and more than three times the participation rate of service occupations, like healthcare support, protective service, food preparation, maintenance and personal care workers.
Full-time workers had nearly twice the access rate and three times the participation rate of part-time workers, and 92% of union workers had high access to a plan and of those, 85% participated.
High-wage workers, those in the top 25% of all wage earners, with earnings at or above $24.81 per hour, had significantly higher rates of access to and participation in retirement plans than did low-wage workers who earned $10.69 per hour or below.
Workers at large companies, with 500 employees or more, had a retirement participation rate more than twice that of workers in small businesses, or those with fewer than 100 workers.
This data came from the National Compensation Survey-Benefits program.
This article was originally posted at BenefitsPro.com, a sister site of Credit Union Times.
