Employees required to contribute to their defined contribution retirement plans

In March 2010, 63 percent of private sector workers were required to contribute to their employer-provided defined contribution retirement plans. This compares with 58 percent of State and local government workers.

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Among part-time workers, 56 percent who worked in private industry were required to contribute to their defined contribution plans, compared with 62 percent of those who worked in State and local government. For full-time workers, the percentages were the same as those for all workers, 63 percent in the private sector and 58 percent in State and local government.

For unionized workers, 59 percent in private industry were required to contribute to their plans in March 2010, compared with 43 percent in State and local government; for nonunion workers, the figures were 63 and 66 percent, respectively.

These data are from the National Compensation Survey – Benefits program. To learn more, see "Program Perspectives on Defined Contribution Plans" (PDF). Defined contribution plans are retirement plans that specify the level of employer contributions and place those contributions into individual employee accounts.