Evening star., 1951-01-28

This percent will rise gradually to
3A per cent. after 1869.
Second benefits under civil
service are possible only after five
years of service, whereas retire.
ment or survivor benefit could be
available after 112 years for those
who qualify under OASI, and
permanent insurance for benefits
is available after a total of 10
years of employment.
Third, the kinds of benefit and
eligibility differ. For example, re-
tirement with full benefit under
civil service is permitted at age
so with 80 years service or at 81
with five years: with reduced bene-
fit, at SIS with 80 years service, or
at any age. after Is years. if in
voluntarily separated. Social Sc
curity benefits are available only
upon retirement at IS or over.
Civil Service has benefits on &C
count of permanent disability,
available after five years service;
social security so far has none.
On the other hand, OASI pro-
vides wife's benefits at IS equal
to half the workers benefits; CSR
does not.
Survivor benefits are available
under both to widows and orphans
and also, If there are none, to
parents under OASI. Benefits to
surviving widow without minor
children begin at age so and 65
under CSR and OASI, respec-
lively. Any type of benefit to the
widow ends at her remarriage or
death. Under both. where there
are surviving children. benefits
are paid to the widow and to the
children. beginning at death Of
the worker. Childrens benefits
stop at age 18 under both systems.
Under OASI the widows benefit
also stops at this time and is re-
sumed at age IS. Under CSR, the
widow continues to receive her
benefit.
Before retirement, benefits for
dependents are available only
when civil service employees die
in active service after five years;
under social security, all survivor
benefits can be obtained after 10
years of service or, if insured,
with as little as 18 months serv-
ice in some cases, whether or not
death occurs while employed.
After retirement, the Social Sc
curity Act provides the same sur
vivor benefits after as we'll as be-
fore retirement, but civil service
pays only children and mothers
with children of regularly retired
employees 15 years with retire.
ment directly from service, or dis
ability. To take care of his wife,
an employe. upon retirement, may
make provision (joint and sur
vivor option) by reducing the
amount of his own annuity.
In general, OASI provides sur
vivor benefits in addition to regu-
lar retirement benefits, whereas
civil service provides such bene-
fits only upon meeting stiff eligi-
bility conditions and, for widows
of retired workers, by requiring a
reduction of the regular annuity.
Coordination Needed
Fourth, of course, the benefit
amounts differ. Comparison is ex-
tremely difficult because retire.
ment ages are not the same, diff
ferent types of benefits are avail
able and restrictions on earnings
following retirement are not the
same. Also, CRS bases benefits
on earnings of the highest five
years rather than on average
wages.
Without attempting to state
categorically that one system Is
better than another-a determi-
nation that depends on a variety
of facts and intentions-it is clear
that an unwieldy and unsatisfac-
tory situation has resulted. Gov
ernment employees, working side
by side, will fall under different
systems. They will have different
contributions and different bene-
(See PENSION PLAN, Page C-11)