Employee Pensions: Policies, Problems, and Possibilities (LERA Research Volume)

This volume outlines a fresh view on pension plans from the perspective of both the employer and employee, describing the possibilities in American labor relations and in Congress to meet employers' needs to compete and to fulfill the enduring desire of workers to plan for a financially secure period of leisure at the end of their working lives. The authors examine the advantages to employers from sponsoring a defined benefit plan and focus on ways to stabilize defined benefit plan coverage. They also look into the need for changes in regulations governing defined contribution plans, offering a number of innovative policy solutions. Finally, they provide insight into the political and institutional constraints that may impede the creation of new pension legislation that could help to strengthen defined benefit plans and improve defined contribution plans.

Christian E. Weller is Professor of Public Policy and Public Administration at the University of Massachusetts Boston.