The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 66 percent of workers in the private sector have access to a workplace retirement savings plan, but that access varies widely depending on how much money a worker makes.
Only 31 percent of workers in the lowest 10th percentile have access to a retirement plan, whereas 88 percent of workers in the highest wage category have access.
The numbers are much more promising for workers in the public sector. At the state and local level, 61 percent of workers in the lowest earning segment have access to plans, and 98 percent of the best-paid public employees have access to a plan, according to BLS's National Compensation Survey.
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And union workers in the private sector are also much more likely to have access to and participate in a workplace plan, as 92 percent have access, as opposed to 63 percent for non-union workers.
Of the 66 percent of workers in the private sector with access to plan, only 49 percent are utilizing it.
The service industry offers the least access, making a plan available to only 39 percent of workers. The best industry for retirement plans is what the study calls the "management, business and financial" sector, which boasts access to a retirement plan for 88 percent of its workers.
The larger the company, the far more likely employers are to have access to a plan. For companies with more than 500 employees, 89 percent of workers have access to a plan, and 76 percent of all workers employed by the largest employers utilize savings plans.
But only 46 percent of companies with one to 49 workers provide a workplace plan, and only 32 percent of workers in the smallest companies actually participate in a savings plan.
Companies with 100 or more workers offer a savings plan to 84 percent of workers.
Regionally, employers offered plans at similar rates. In the Midwest, 70 percent of employers offer a retirement plan, the highest rate for the country. In the Northeast the rate is 67 percent, in the South it's 66 percent, and in the West the rate drops to 60 percent.
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Nick Thornton
Nick Thornton is a financial writer covering retirement and health care issues for BenefitsPRO and ALM Media. He greatly enjoys learning from the vast minds in the legal, academic, advisory and money management communities when covering the retirement space. He's also written on international marketing trends, financial institution risk management, defense and energy issues, the restaurant industry in New York City, surfing, cigars, rum, travel, and fishing. When not writing, he's pushing into some land or water.
