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Employee Benefits Survey
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Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates

Table 2. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates,1 civilian workers,2 National Compensation Survey,
March 2015

(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics

All retirement benefits3

Defined benefit

Defined contribution

Access

Participation

Take-up
rate

Access

Participation

Take-up
rate

Access

Participation

Take-up
rate

All workers

69

53

77

28

24

86

57

39

68

Worker characteristics

                  

Management, professional, and related

83

71

85

42

36

86

66

50

75

    Management, business, and financial

85

75

88

37

31

84

77

64

83

    Professional and related

82

69

84

43

37

86

61

44

71

        Teachers

84

74

87

71

61

87

37

18

50

            Primary, secondary, and special education
             school teachers

95

84

88

89

80

90

31

11

35

        Registered nurses

83

68

82

36

31

87

74

54

73

Service

46

30

64

17

15

90

35

17

49

    Protective service

79

62

79

54

49

91

43

19

45

Sales and office

72

52

72

22

18

80

64

43

67

    Sales and related

68

39

57

12

8

64

63

35

55

    Office and administrative support

74

60

80

28

23

83

64

47

74

Natural resources, construction, and maintenance

69

56

81

31

29

95

56

41

73

    Construction, extraction, farming, fishing, and
     forestry

64

52

82

35

33

95

46

33

71

    Installation, maintenance, and repair

73

59

81

28

26

95

65

49

74

Production, transportation, and material moving

72

54

76

25

21

86

62

42

69

    Production

75

59

79

22

20

88

70

51

73

    Transportation and material moving

68

50

73

27

23

85

53

34

64

Full time

80

64

81

33

29

87

66

47

72

Part time

38

20

54

11

8

75

30

14

46

Union

94

85

90

83

75

91

46

29

64

Nonunion

65

48

74

19

15

82

59

41

69

Average wage within the following categories:4

                  

    Lowest 25 percent

42

22

52

8

6

73

37

17

46

        Lowest 10 percent

31

12

40

4

3

58

28

10

37

    Second 25 percent

71

53

75

22

19

86

60

40

67

    Third 25 percent

81

68

83

36

31

87

66

49

74

    Highest 25 percent

89

79

88

50

44

87

71

56

79

        Highest 10 percent

90

80

90

49

42

86

75

60

80

Establishment characteristics

                  

Goods-producing industries

75

61

82

26

23

89

70

53

77

Service-providing industries

68

52

76

28

24

85

55

37

67

    Education and health services

77

63

82

41

36

87

53

34

65

        Educational services

86

76

88

72

62

87

36

19

54

            Elementary and secondary schools

89

80

89

84

75

89

26

9

36

            Junior colleges, colleges, and universities

87

76

87

54

43

79

61

42

70

        Health care and social assistance

71

54

76

21

18

87

64

45

70

            Hospitals

91

78

85

45

39

85

79

59

75

    Public administration

91

84

92

87

79

91

34

16

46

1 to 99 workers

52

36

70

11

9

86

47

32

67

    1 to 49 workers

46

33

71

8

7

88

44

30

68

    50 to 99 workers

67

46

69

17

14

82

59

38

65

100 workers or more

86

69

81

44

38

86

66

46

69

    100 to 499 workers

81

61

75

29

24

84

69

46

68

    500 workers or more

91

79

87

60

52

87

64

46

72

Geographic areas

                  

Northeast

70

57

80

32

28

88

56

40

71

    New England

71

56

79

28

24

87

57

42

73

    Middle Atlantic

70

57

81

34

30

88

56

39

70

South

69

52

75

27

23

85

59

38

65

    South Atlantic

70

53

75

28

23

84

62

40

65

    East South Central

72

52

72

26

22

84

56

36

63

    West South Central

67

50

75

26

22

88

55

37

67

Midwest

73

57

78

27

23

85

62

43

69

    East North Central

71

56

78

28

24

86

61

42

68

    West North Central

75

58

78

27

22

81

64

46

71

West

64

50

77

27

23

87

50

36

71

    Mountain

65

46

71

22

18

82

53

35

66

    Pacific

64

51

80

29

25

88

49

36

74

1The take-up rate is an estimate of the percentage of workers with access to a plan who participate in the plan, rounded for presentation. See Technical Note for more details.

2Includes workers in the private nonfarm economy except those in private households, and workers in the public sector, except the federal government. See Technical Note for further
explanation.

3Includes defined benefit pension plans and defined contribution retirement plans. Workers are considered as having access or as participating if they have access to or are participating
in at least one of these plan types.

4Surveyed occupations are classified into wage categories based on the average wage for the occupation, which may include workers with earnings both above and below the threshold. 
The categories were formed using percentile estimates generated using wage data for March 2015.


Note: For definitions of major plans, key provisions, and related terms, see the "Glossary of Employee Benefit Terms" at  www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/glossary20142015.htm .