Trends in employer costs for defined benefit plans

Defined benefit pension plans can provide financial security to retirees who receive the monthly benefit payments throughout their retirement. Defined benefit plans are pension plans that provide guaranteed income during retirement, and are often based on a formula that considers years of service and a percentage of a worker’s salary. Employers have traditionally offered defined benefit plans to their employees, but the high costs associated with these plans have caused many employers to switch to alternate retirement plan options.1 In March 2015, costs for defined benefit plans for private industry employers were approximately 61 cents per employee hour worked, on average. However, when data are averaged only by the employers that offer these plans, the costs are much higher. In this Beyond the Numbers article, we’ll explore how costs fluctuate by industry, occupation, establishment size, and region, and review trends in costs for employees with access to these plans from 2008 to 2015.