Strong Support for Pension Availability, Study Finds

There is strong support for all workers having access to a pension plan, a recent study has found. 

Dan Doonan and Kelly Kenneally, who respectively serve as National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) Executive Director and communications counsel, report in the new NIRS issue brief on Americans’ Views of State and Local Employee Retirement Plans that many Americans lack retirement plan coverage. But they say that while defined benefit plans are not as prevalent as they once were, they still enjoy strong support: 76% have a positive opinion about them.

Support for access to DB plans for all American workers is strong—77% hold that view, and 43% strongly agree with that notion. And support for universal access is independent of ideology, Doonan and Kenneally indicate. They write, “Even though the nation is deeply divided on many other issues, support for pensions is consistent across party lines.” To wit: 75% of Republicans, 78% of independents and 80% of Democrats contend pension plan access should be available to all workers.  

Those beliefs are grounded in concern about the future. Doonan and Kenneally say that “overall, most Americans are deeply concerned about their economic security in retirement, and increasingly see retirement as elusive.” They report that 67% believe that a retirement crisis exists, and 56% are concerned that their retirement will not be financially secure. And they add that the pandemic “triggered a deep economic crisis” that “has been persistent and deep” for portions of the population and economy.