U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS COMPENSATION AND WORKING CONDITIONS

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Access to Defined Contribution Retirement Plans among Workers in Private

Industry, 2005

by Elizabeth Dietz

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Originally Posted: April 26, 2006

According to 2005 National Compensation Survey (NCS) Benefits data, 53 percent of all workers in private industry have

access to at least one employer-provided defined contribution retirement plan. Access to employer-provided defined

contribution plans varies notably among worker and establishment characteristics.1

• Workers in higher paying occupations are more likely to have access to employer-provided defined contribution plans

than are other workers.
U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS COMPENSATION AND WORKING CONDITIONS

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• Workers in white-collar occupations are more likely to have access to employer-provided defined contribution plans

than are workers in blue-collar and service occupations.2

• Full-time workers have greater access to defined contribution plan benefits than do part-time workers.

• As shown in chart 4, private industry workers in larger firms are more likely to have access to defined contribution

benefits than those in smaller firms. • Also, NCS data show that 87 percent of establishments with 100 workers or more offer defined contribution plans,

while only 47 percent of smaller establishments do so.

The factors that determine the percent of workers who have access to defined contribution plans in the occupational and

establishment categories shown above are somewhat overlapping. For example, workers in private industry earn, on

average, higher wages in larger establishments than do those in smaller establishments, and white-collar workers earn more,

on average, than service workers.3

NOTE: Standard errors have not been calculated for NCS benefits estimates. Consequently, none of the statistical inferences

made in this report could be verified by a statistical test.
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SOURCE: Data shown in these charts are from National Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits in Private Industry in the

United States, March 2005, Summary 05-01 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 2005), on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/

ncs/ebs/sp/ebsm0003.pdf.

Elizabeth Dietz

Economist, Division of Compensation Data Analysis and Planning, Office of Compensation and Working Conditions, Bureau of

Labor Statistics.

Telephone: (202) 691-5177; E-mail: Dietz.Liz@bls.gov

Notes

1 An employee has access to a benefit plan if the employee is in an occupation that is offered the plan. By definition, either all employees in an

occupation have access to a benefit, or none has access.

2 White-collar occupations include professional, technical, administrative, and sales occupations. For more information, see National

Compensation Survey: Occupational Wages in the United States, July 2004, Bulletin 2576 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, September 2005),

Appendix B, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/sp/ncbl0757.pdf.

3 See National Compensation Survey: Occupational Wages in the United States, July 2004, table 2-2.

Data for Chart 1. Workers with access to defined contribution plans by wage group, private industry, 2005

Wage Group Percent with access

All workers 53

Less than $15 per hour 41

$15 or more per hour 69

Data for Chart 2. Workers with access to defined contribution plans by occupational group, private industry, 2005

Occupational Group Percent with access

All workers 53

White collar 64

Blue collar 50

Service 28

Data for Chart 3. Workers with access to defined contribution plans by full- and part-time status, private industry, 2005

Work Status Percent with access

All workers 53

Full time 62

Part time 23

Data for Chart 4. Workers with access to defined contribution plans by establishment size, private industry, 2005

Establishment Size Percent with access

All workers 53

1-99 workers 40

100 or more workers 69

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