State and local government

Nearly all state and local government employees, meaning 86% of them, are fully eligible for a traditional pension plan. “The government, federal, state, and local, might still be some of the most common places to find this kind of defined benefit pension” as David Love, a professor of economics at Williams College, explained.

He also added that some state and local governments have been updated about defined contribution plans, but defined benefits are still wildly popular and available for new employees.

The state government is known to have higher pension coverage than the local government, and union government employees are most likely to have a better pension than nonunion workers. In the majority of cases, part-time government employees don’t even qualify for the pension plan.