Printer-friendly version

New Definitions of Employee Access to Paid Sick Leave and Retirement Benefits in the National Compensation Survey

by Natalie Kramer and Alan Zilberman
Bureau of Labor Statistics

Originally Posted: December 23, 2008

The National Compensation Survey (NCS) has recently broadened its definitions of access to sick leave, retirement benefits, and, within the category of retirement benefits, defined contribution plans and defined benefit plans. The new definitions of access have been applied in the calculation of sick leave and retirement benefits, resulting in new estimates for these variables.

Introduction

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has been collecting and publishing data on employee benefits for many years. The Employee Benefits Survey (EBS) program, which conducted surveys from 1979 through 1998, published data on workers’ participation in various employee benefit plans as well as estimates on plan provisions.¹ The National Compensation Survey (NCS) program, which provides a comprehensive set of measures on compensation, including estimates on employer costs for employee earnings and benefits, as well as occupational earnings, began publishing data on employee benefits in 1999. Over the intervening years, the NCS has incorporated elements of various predecessor surveys and drawn upon decades of experience to expand the scope and richness of the benefits data it publishes. The NCS introduced estimates on employee access to several types of benefits data with the publication of National Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits in Private Industry in the United States, March 2003.²

The NCS has recently broadened its definitions of access to sick leave, retirement benefits, and, within the category of retirement benefits, defined contribution plans and defined benefit plans. The new definitions of access have been applied in the calculation of sick leave and retirement benefits, resulting in new estimates for these variables. The definition of employee participation (applicable to retirement plans, not paid sick leave) remains unchanged. Take-up rates are the ratio of the number of workers who participate in a benefit to the number of workers with access to the benefit. Take-up rates are affected by the change in access estimates purely due to this mathematical relationship, resulting in new take-up rate estimates.³ Standard errors are available for the original and new access and take-up rate estimates for 2008; however, they are not available for original or new estimates from the survey years 2003 through 2007.

This article describes how the new, broader definitions of access differ from the original definitions, and it introduces the new BLS estimates of access (and their standard errors, where available). The article also gives an overview of the differences between the new estimates and those published previously.

Paid Sick Leave

Many employers provide formal sick leave plans, offering a certain number of hours or days of paid sick leave per year, while other employers offer informal plans--for example, those in which paid time off due to health-related concerns is granted by the employer on a case-by-case basis. The previously published estimates of access to paid sick leave in the NCS benefits publications for 2004-07⁴ reflect the percentage of workers in an occupation⁵ for which the employer incurred a cost for sick leave, typically within the 12 months prior to data collection.⁶ The new estimates of access to paid sick leave reflect the percentage of workers in an occupation who were offered paid sick leave, regardless of whether the employer had incurred a cost for the benefit.

The following example illustrates the difference between the former and new definitions of access to paid sick leave:

• At Establishment A, there are 10 janitors with access to paid sick leave, and 3 of them used several days of sick leave over the past year, while the other 7 janitors used no sick leave. Under the former and new definitions, all 10 janitors would be counted as having access.



• In Establishment B, 12 janitors have access to paid sick leave, but none of the 12 took sick leave within the past year. Under the former definition, none would be considered to have access; under the new definition, all would be considered to have access.

Table 1 shows a side-by-side comparison of the previously published estimates of access to paid sick leave, which are based on the former definition of access, and the new estimates, which are based on the new definition of access, for the years 2004-07.

Table 1. Paid sick leave(1): Access, by ownership, National Compensation Survey, 2004-2007
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	Private industry								State and local government
	March 2004 (2)		March 2005 (3)		March 2006 (4)		March 2007 (5)		September 2007 (6)
	Old	New	Old	New	Old	New	Old	New	Old	New
All workers	59	60	58	59	57	58	57	60	87	89
Worker characteristics:
White-collar occupations	74	75	74	75	72	73
Blue-collar occupations	47	48	46	46	45	46
Service occupations	37	37	36	37	38	39
Management, professional, and related							80	83	88	90
Professional and related									88	90
Teachers									86	88
Primary, secondary, and special education school teachers									90	93
Service							39	41	82	85
Protective service									87	90
Sales and office							63	66	87	90
Office and administrative support									88	91
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance							44	45
Production, transportation, and material moving							47	50
Full time	70	70	69	70	68	69	68	70	95	98
Part time	24	26	23	25	22	24	23	25	39	41
Union	59	61	61	62	59	60	61	64	94	97
Nonunion	59	60	58	59	57	58	57	59	81	83
Average wage less than $15 per hour (7)	48	48	47	47	46	46	44	47	74	77
Average wage $15 per hour or higher (7)	75	76	75	75	73	74	72	75	92	94
Average wage less than $24 per hour (7)									82	84
Average wage $24 per hour or higher (7)									93	95
Establishment characteristics:
Goods-producing	49	50	49	49	48	49	47	49
Service-producing (8)	62	63	61	62	60	61
Service-providing (8)							60	62
Education and health services									88	90
Educational services									87	90
Elementary and secondary schools									88	90
Junior colleges, colleges, and universities									86	88
Health care and social assistance									89	90
Hospitals									92	93
Public administration									86	89
1 to 99 workers	50	51	49	50	48	49	48	51	75	79
1 to 49 workers									70	72
50 to 99 workers									83	87
100 or more workers	69	70	70	70	69	69	67	69	88	91
100 to 499 workers									85	87
500 or more workers									90	92
State government									92	94
Local government									85	87
Geographic areas:
Metropolitan areas	60	61	60	61	59	60	58	61
Nonmetropolitan areas	52	52	50	50	50	50	50	52
New England	66	66	66	66	67	67	65	66
Middle Atlantic	62	62	63	63	62	63	64	66
East North Central	59	59	56	56	54	55	53	55
West North Central	59	60	59	60	57	58	54	57
South Atlantic	56	57	57	57	55	56	54	57
East South Central	55	55	56	57	53	54	54	56
West South Central	55	55	55	55	55	55	56	59
Mountain	58	58	55	56	57	58	56	59
Pacific	61	63	61	63	60	62	59	62
Footnotes: (1) Beginning with the March 2008 estimates, the definition of paid sick leave access was expanded to include previously excluded plans where workers had not made use of the benefit. (2) The March 2004 estimates were originally published in Summary 04-04, table 8, p. 12, in November 2004. (3) The March 2005 estimates were originally published in Summary 05-01, table 18, p. 22, in August 2005. (4) The March 2006 estimates were originally published in Summary 06-05, table 19, p. 24, in August 2006. (5) The March 2007 estimates were originally published in Summary 07-05, table 19, p. 28, in August 2007. (6) The September 2007 estimates were originally published in Summary 08-02, table 18, p. 24, in March 2008. (7) The wage breakouts are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold. (8) This category changed from service producing to service providing as part of the transition from SIC to NAICS.

The new estimates for 2004-07 generally run about 1 to 3 percent higher than the corresponding original estimates. No standard errors are available for the 2004 through 2007 estimates; therefore, statements on the comparison between the former and new estimates cannot be confirmed by a statistical test.

Table 2 shows the 2008 estimates for paid sick leave and their standard errors.

Table 2. Paid sick leave(1): Access, by ownership, National Compensation Survey, March 2008(2)
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	Civilian		Private industry		State and local government
	Percent	Standard error	Percent	Standard error	Percent	Standard error
All workers	65	0.6	61	0.7	89	0.5
Worker characteristics:
Management, professional, and related	85	0.9	83	1.2	90	0.7
Management, business, and financial	89	1.0	88	1.2
Professional and related	84	1.0	81	1.4	90	0.8
Teachers	83	1.6			88	0.9
Primary, secondary, and special education school teachers	91	1.3			92	0.9
Registered Nurses	76	3.4			92	1.9
Service	49	1.9	42	2.4	85	1.1
Protective service					90	1.0
Sales and office	68	0.8	66	0.9	90	1.2
Sales and related	56	1.1	56	1.1
Office and administrative support	76	1.1	73	1.3	91	1.1
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance	51	1.3	47	1.4	94	1.8
Construction, extraction, farming, fishing, and forestry	36	1.7	30	1.6
Installation, maintenance, and repair	69	2.1	67	2.2
Production, transportation, and material moving	52	1.3	51	1.3	88	2.8
Production	52	1.8	51	1.8
Transportation and material moving	53	1.7	51	1.8
Full time	75	0.7	71	0.8	98	0.3
Part time	28	1.1	27	1.2	41	1.7
Union	80	1.0	66	1.7	97	0.4
Nonunion	62	0.7	60	0.7	82	0.9
Average wage within the following percentiles(3):
Less than 10	24	3.2	23	3.2	61	2.5
10 to under 25	45	1.5	41	1.7	85	1.3
25 to under 50	66	1.0	63	1.2	92	0.9
50 to under 75	75	1.0	70	1.1	94	1.1
75 to under 90	82	1.0	77	1.2	95	0.9
90 or greater	87	1.3	83	1.6	97	0.6
Establishment characteristics:
Goods-producing	51	1.4	51	1.4
Construction			32	1.8
Manufacturing			59	2.0
Service-providing	68	0.7	63	0.8	89	0.6
Trade, transportation, and utilities			61	1.0
Wholesale trade			78	1.8
Retail trade			52	1.4
Transportation and warehousing			65	3.1
Utilities			95	2.2
Information			85	4.2
Financial activities			87	1.1
Finance and insurance			90	0.9
Credit intermediation and related activities			92	1.0
Insurance carriers and related activities			89	1.6
Real estate and rental and leasing			77	3.1
Professional and business services			61	2.2
Professional and technical services			82	2.3
Administrative and waste services			37	3.5
Education and health services	82	1.0	76	1.6	90	0.6
Educational services	87	0.8	74	3.1	89	0.6
Elementary and secondary schools	90	0.8			90	0.8
Junior colleges, colleges, and universities	85	1.3	82	1.6	87	1.8
Health care and social assistance	78	1.7	77	1.8	91	1.7
Hospitals	88	1.2			92	1.7
Leisure and hospitality			34	5.5
Accommodation and food services			34	6.9
Other services			55	3.2
Public administration	88	1.2			88	1.2
1 to 99 workers	53	1.0	52	1.1	78	2.2
1 to 49 workers	52	1.1	51	1.1	72	3.5
50 to 99 workers	54	2.2	52	2.4	87	1.9
100 or more workers	76	0.9	71	1.2	91	0.5
100 to 499 workers	67	1.2	64	1.4	87	1.0
500 or more workers	83	1.0	78	1.6	92	0.6
State government					94	0.9
Local government					87	0.7
Geographic areas:
Metropolitan			62	0.8
Nonmetropolitan			53	3.0
New England	71	1.1	68	1.3	87	3.3
Middle Atlantic	70	1.6	67	1.8	90	0.8
East North Central	60	1.5	56	1.6	85	2.0
West North Central	63	1.9	59	2.1	87	2.1
South Atlantic	64	1.7	58	1.9	93	1.1
East South Central	63	4.9	57	7.0	91	1.4
West South Central	64	2.1	60	2.4	87	2.0
Mountain	63	2.3	60	2.9	85	2.7
Pacific	67	1.7	63	2.1	92	1.1
Footnotes: (1) Beginning with the March 2008 estimates, the definition of paid sick leave access was expanded to include previously excluded plans for which workers had not made use of the benefit. (2) Data for March 2008 were not previously published. These estimates are comparable to the recalculated percentages from 2004 through 2007. (3) The percentile groupings are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold. The percentile values are based on the estimates published in "National Compensation Survey: Occupational Earnings in the United States, 2007." See the Technical Note for details.

This is the first publication of the 2008 paid sick leave data, and the estimates are based on the new definition of access. Future NCS publications of access to paid sick leave will be based on the new definition of access.

Retirement Benefits

The NCS computes the percentage of workers with access to a retirement plan, the percentage with access to a defined benefit plan, and the percentage with access to a defined contribution plan.⁷ According to the former definition of access to retirement benefits, all workers in an occupation (within an establishment) offered retirement benefits were counted as having access if at least one of the workers had actually chosen to enroll in the benefit. To provide a more inclusive measure of workers’ access to retirement benefits, the definition of access has been broadened to account for all workers who had the option to enroll in a plan. According to the new definition, all workers within an occupation are considered as having access if the benefit is offered to them, whether or not any workers in that occupation choose to enroll.

The following example illustrates the difference between the former and new definitions of access to retirement benefits:

• Establishment A offered its 25 accountants a 401(k) plan (a type of defined contribution plan); 15 of them enrolled in the plan, while the other 10 chose not to enroll. Under the former and new definitions, all 25 workers would be counted as having access.



• Establishment B offered its 7 accountants a 401(k) plan, but none of the 7 chose to enroll in it. Under the former definition, none of the accountants would be considered to have access; under the new definition, all 7 would be considered to have access.

Tables 3, 4, 5 (a-c), 6 (a-c), and 7 (a-c) show side-by-side comparisons of the old and new estimates of access to retirement, defined benefit, and defined contribution plans in private industry in 2003 through 2007. Table 8 (a-c) shows the same comparisons for State and local government in 2007.

Table 3. Retirement benefits: Access, private industry workers, National Compensation Survey, March 2003
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	All retirement benefits		Defined benefit plans		Defined contribution plans
	Old	New	Old	New	Old	New
All workers	57	64	20	21	51	58
Worker characteristics:
White-collar occupations	67	73	23	24	62	69
Blue-collar occupations	59	66	24	24	49	57
Service occupations	28	37	8	8	23	33
Full time	67	74	24	25	60	68
Part time	24	32	8	9	21	29
Union	86	88	74	74	45	49
Nonunion	54	62	15	16	51	59
Average wage less than $15 per hour (1)	45	54	12	12	40	50
Average wage $15 per hour or higher (1)	76	80	34	35	67	72
Establishment characteristics:
Goods-producing	70	75	31	32	60	65
Service-producing	53	61	17	18	48	56
1 to 99 workers	42	51	9	9	38	48
100 or more workers	75	79	34	34	65	70
Geographic areas:
Metropolitan areas	58	65	21	22	51	59
Nonmetropolitan areas	52	58	15	15	47	54
New England	51	55	16	17	44	49
Middle Atlantic	61	66	30	30	49	55
East North Central	64	73	24	25	56	65
West North Central	56	62	22	22	47	54
South Atlantic	57	66	17	17	53	63
East South Central	60	64	14	14	59	63
West South Central	53	62	18	19	49	59
Mountain	51	57	12	14	47	52
Pacific	53	59	20	20	46	54
Footnotes: (1) The wage breakouts are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold.

Table 4. Retirement benefits: Access, private industry workers, National Compensation Survey, March 2004
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	All retirement benefits		Defined benefit plans		Defined contribution plans
	Old	New	Old	New	Old	New
All workers	59	65	21	21	53	59
Worker characteristics:
White-collar occupations	69	74	24	25	64	71
Blue-collar occupations	59	66	26	26	49	56
Service occupations	31	38	6	6	27	35
Full time	68	74	25	25	62	68
Part time	27	33	9	9	23	30
Union	84	85	70	70	48	49
Nonunion	56	63	16	16	53	60
Average wage less than $15 per hour (1)	46	54	11	12	41	50
Average wage $15 per hour or higher (1)	77	81	35	36	68	73
Establishment characteristics:
Goods-producing	70	75	32	32	60	66
Service-producing	55	62	18	18	50	58
1 to 99 workers	44	52	9	10	40	49
100 or more workers	77	80	35	36	68	72
Geographic areas:
Metropolitan areas	59	66	22	23	53	60
Nonmetropolitan areas	55	61	15	15	51	57
New England	56	64	22	22	50	58
Middle Atlantic	59	64	29	29	50	55
East North Central	65	71	24	25	58	64
West North Central	65	70	21	21	57	64
South Atlantic	57	64	17	17	54	62
East South Central	57	60	14	14	55	59
West South Central	56	64	18	18	52	60
Mountain	59	66	17	18	54	61
Pacific	52	59	22	23	46	52
Footnotes: (1) The wage breakouts are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold.

Table 5a. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, private industry workers, National Compensation Survey, March 2005
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	All retirement benefits
	Definition of Access		Participation (1)	Take-up rate
	Old	New		Old	New
All workers	60	65	50	85	78
Worker characteristics:
White-collar occupations	70	75	61	87	82
Blue-collar occupations	60	66	51	85	77
Service occupations	32	38	22	69	58
Full time	69	75	60	86	80
Part time	27	33	19	71	59
Union	88	88	85	97	96
Nonunion	56	62	46	82	75
Average wage less than $15 per hour (2)	46	53	35	76	66
Average wage $15 per hour or higher (2)	78	81	71	92	88
Establishment characteristics:
Goods-producing	71	76	64	89	84
Service-producing	56	62	47	83	75
1 to 99 workers	44	52	37	83	71
100 or more workers	78	81	67	86	83
Geographic areas:
Metropolitan areas	60	66	52	85	78
Nonmetropolitan areas	55	60	44	80	73
New England	57	65	51	89	78
Middle Atlantic	60	65	55	91	85
East North Central	64	69	56	89	82
West North Central	64	70	56	87	81
South Atlantic	59	65	47	80	73
East South Central	59	61	44	75	73
West South Central	56	63	45	81	71
Mountain	63	67	49	78	73
Pacific	55	60	47	85	78
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The wage breakouts are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold.

Table 5b. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, private industry workers, National Compensation Survey, March 2005
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	Defined benefit plans
	Definition of Access		Participation (1)	Take-up rate
	Old	New		Old	New
All workers	22	22	21	97	95
Worker characteristics:
White-collar occupations	25	25	24	96	94
Blue-collar occupations	26	26	26	98	97
Service occupations	7	8	7	97	95
Full time	25	26	25	97	96
Part time	10	10	9	91	88
Union	73	73	72	99	99
Nonunion	16	16	15	95	93
Average wage less than $15 per hour (2)	12	12	11	94	91
Average wage $15 per hour or higher (2)	35	35	34	98	97
Establishment characteristics:
Goods-producing	33	33	32	98	98
Service-producing	19	19	18	96	94
1 to 99 workers	10	10	9	96	94
100 or more workers	37	37	36	97	95
Geographic areas:
Metropolitan areas	23	23	22	96	95
Nonmetropolitan areas	15	16	15	98	97
New England	22	23	21	96	95
Middle Atlantic	29	29	28	98	96
East North Central	25	26	24	96	94
West North Central	23	23	22	98	98
South Atlantic	17	17	16	97	97
East South Central	14	14	13	95	95
West South Central	17	17	17	98	97
Mountain	19	19	17	93	91
Pacific	24	24	23	96	94
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The wage breakouts are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold.

Table 5c. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, private industry workers, National Compensation Survey, March 2005
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	Defined contribution plans
	Definition of Access		Participation (1)	Take-up rate
	Old	New		Old	New
All workers	53	59	42	78	70
Worker characteristics:
White-collar occupations	64	70	53	82	75
Blue-collar occupations	50	56	38	77	68
Service occupations	28	34	18	63	52
Full time	62	68	50	80	73
Part time	23	29	14	61	48
Union	49	51	43	88	84
Nonunion	54	60	41	77	69
Average wage less than $15 per hour (2)	41	49	29	70	59
Average wage $15 per hour or higher (2)	69	73	59	85	81
Establishment characteristics:
Goods-producing	61	66	50	82	76
Service-producing	51	57	39	77	69
1 to 99 workers	40	48	32	80	67
100 or more workers	69	72	53	77	73
Geographic areas:
Metropolitan areas	54	60	42	79	71
Nonmetropolitan areas	50	56	38	75	68
New England	51	60	42	83	71
Middle Atlantic	50	56	42	84	75
East North Central	55	61	46	83	75
West North Central	56	63	46	82	74
South Atlantic	55	62	41	74	66
East South Central	57	59	41	71	68
West South Central	52	60	38	74	63
Mountain	58	63	42	73	68
Pacific	47	52	37	78	71
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The wage breakouts are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold.

Table 6a. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, private industry workers, National Compensation Survey, March 2006
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	All retirement benefits
	Definition of Access		Participation (1)	Take-up rate
	Old	New		Old	New
All workers	60	66	51	85	77
Worker characteristics:
White-collar occupations	69	74	60	88	81
Blue-collar occupations	62	67	52	84	77
Service occupations	34	41	24	71	60
Full time	69	75	60	86	80
Part time	29	35	21	72	60
Union	84	85	80	95	95
Nonunion	57	63	47	83	75
Average wage less than $15 per hour (2)	47	54	36	76	66
Average wage $15 per hour or higher (2)	77	81	70	91	87
Establishment characteristics:
Goods-producing	73	77	64	88	84
Service-producing	56	62	47	83	75
1 to 99 workers	44	52	37	84	71
100 or more workers	78	81	67	85	82
Geographic areas:
Metropolitan areas	61	67	52	86	78
Nonmetropolitan areas	55	60	44	80	74
New England	58	66	50	86	75
Middle Atlantic	61	64	55	90	85
East North Central	63	69	56	89	82
West North Central	64	69	56	88	82
South Atlantic	60	67	49	81	73
East South Central	63	66	47	74	71
West South Central	54	61	43	80	71
Mountain	63	68	52	82	77
Pacific	56	61	47	84	77
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The wage breakouts are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold.

Table 6b. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, private industry workers, National Compensation Survey, March 2006
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	Defined benefit plans
	Definition of Access		Participation (1)	Take-up rate
	Old	New		Old	New
All workers	21	21	20	96	95
Worker characteristics:
White-collar occupations	23	23	22	95	94
Blue-collar occupations	25	26	25	97	96
Service occupations	8	8	7	94	92
Full time	24	24	23	97	96
Part time	9	9	8	88	86
Union	70	70	68	96	96
Nonunion	15	15	14	95	94
Average wage less than $15 per hour (2)	11	11	10	92	90
Average wage $15 per hour or higher (2)	34	34	33	97	96
Establishment characteristics:
Goods-producing	32	32	31	98	98
Service-producing	18	18	17	94	93
1 to 99 workers	9	9	9	96	95
100 or more workers	35	35	33	95	94
Geographic areas:
Metropolitan areas	22	22	21	96	95
Nonmetropolitan areas	14	14	13	95	94
New England	20	21	19	95	94
Middle Atlantic	27	27	26	97	97
East North Central	25	26	24	96	94
West North Central	20	20	20	97	97
South Atlantic	17	17	16	96	95
East South Central	15	15	14	91	91
West South Central	15	15	15	97	96
Mountain	20	20	18	91	90
Pacific	21	21	20	96	94
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The wage breakouts are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold.

Table 6c. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, private industry workers, National Compensation Survey, March 2006
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	Defined contribution plans
	Definition of Access		Participation (1)	Take-up rate
	Old	New		Old	New
All workers	54	60	43	79	71
Worker characteristics:
White-collar occupations	65	71	53	82	75
Blue-collar occupations	63	58	40	77	69
Service occupations	30	37	20	65	54
Full time	63	69	51	80	73
Part time	25	31	16	65	52
Union	50	52	44	86	84
Nonunion	55	61	43	78	70
Average wage less than $15 per hour (2)	43	50	31	71	61
Average wage $15 per hour or higher (2)	69	73	58	85	80
Establishment characteristics:
Goods-producing	63	68	51	82	76
Service-producing	52	58	40	78	69
1 to 99 workers	41	49	33	81	67
100 or more workers	70	73	54	77	74
Geographic areas:
Metropolitan areas	55	61	44	79	71
Nonmetropolitan areas	51	56	39	75	68
New England	53	62	43	81	69
Middle Atlantic	52	56	43	83	77
East North Central	56	62	46	82	75
West North Central	57	62	47	82	76
South Atlantic	57	65	43	75	67
East South Central	60	64	42	70	66
West South Central	50	58	37	74	65
Mountain	59	64	46	78	72
Pacific	49	54	38	78	70
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The wage breakouts are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold.

Table 7a. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, private industry workers, National Compensation Survey, March 2007
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	All retirement benefits
	Definition of Access		Participation (1)	Take-up rate
	Old	New		Old	New
All workers	61	66	51	84	77
Worker characteristics:
Management, professional, and related	76	79	69	91	87
Service	36	43	25	69	57
Sales and office	64	70	54	84	77
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance	61	67	51	84	77
Production, transportation, and material moving	65	69	54	83	77
Full time	70	75	60	85	80
Part time	31	37	23	73	61
Union	84	85	81	96	95
Nonunion	58	64	47	82	74
Average wage less than $15 per hour (2)	47	54	36	75	66
Average wage $15 per hour or higher (2)	76	80	69	90	86
Establishment characteristics:
Goods-producing	70	75	61	86	81
Service-providing	58	64	48	83	76
1 to 99 workers	45	52	37	82	70
100 or more workers	78	81	66	85	82
Geographic areas:
Metropolitan areas	61	67	52	85	78
Nonmetropolitan areas	57	62	44	78	72
New England	57	62	50	88	81
Middle Atlantic	62	66	55	90	84
East North Central	64	69	56	87	81
West North Central	63	68	55	87	81
South Atlantic	62	69	50	80	72
East South Central	66	69	46	71	67
West South Central	55	61	44	80	71
Mountain	63	67	50	79	75
Pacific	57	62	48	84	77
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The wage breakouts are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold.

Table 7b. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, private industry workers, National Compensation Survey, March 2007
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	Defined benefit plans
	Definition of Access		Participation (1)	Take-up rate
	Old	New		Old	New
All workers	21	21	20	95	95
Worker characteristics:
Management, professional, and related	29	29	28	97	96
Service	8	8	7	94	93
Sales and office	19	19	17	93	92
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance	26	26	25	97	97
Production, transportation, and material moving	26	27	25	96	96
Full time	24	24	23	96	96
Part time	10	10	9	90	88
Union	69	69	67	97	97
Nonunion	15	16	15	95	94
Average wage less than $15 per hour (2)	11	11	10	92	91
Average wage $15 per hour or higher (2)	33	33	32	97	96
Establishment characteristics:
Goods-producing	29	29	28	98	97
Service-providing	19	19	18	94	94
1 to 99 workers	9	9	9	96	95
100 or more workers	34	34	32	95	95
Geographic areas:
Metropolitan areas	22	22	21	95	95
Nonmetropolitan areas	14	14	14	96	95
New England	21	21	20	96	96
Middle Atlantic	27	27	26	97	96
East North Central	25	26	24	96	94
West North Central	21	22	20	96	95
South Atlantic	17	18	17	96	95
East South Central	14	14	13	92	91
West South Central	17	17	16	95	94
Mountain	18	18	16	92	92
Pacific	21	21	20	95	95
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The wage breakouts are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold.

Table 7c. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, private industry workers, National Compensation Survey, March 2007
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	Defined contribution plans
	Definition of Access		Participation (1)	Take-up rate
	Old	New		Old	New
All workers	55	61	43	77	70
Worker characteristics:
Management, professional, and related	71	75	60	84	80
Service	32	39	20	63	51
Sales and office	60	66	47	78	71
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance	51	57	40	77	69
Production, transportation, and material moving	56	60	41	74	68
Full time	64	69	50	79	73
Part time	27	33	18	65	53
Union	49	50	41	85	83
Nonunion	56	62	43	76	69
Average wage less than $15 per hour (2)	44	51	30	70	60
Average wage $15 per hour or higher (2)	69	73	57	83	78
Establishment characteristics:
Goods-producing	62	67	49	79	73
Service-providing	53	59	41	77	69
1 to 99 workers	42	50	33	79	66
100 or more workers	70	73	53	76	73
Geographic areas:
Metropolitan areas	56	61	43	78	71
Nonmetropolitan areas	53	58	38	72	66
New England	53	58	44	83	76
Middle Atlantic	53	58	44	83	76
East North Central	56	62	45	80	73
West North Central	56	61	45	81	74
South Atlantic	59	66	44	75	66
East South Central	64	67	42	66	63
West South Central	51	58	38	74	65
Mountain	60	64	44	74	70
Pacific	49	54	38	77	70
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The wage breakouts are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold.

Table 8a. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, State and local government workers, National Compensation Survey, September 2007
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	All retirement benefits
	Definition of Access		Participation (1)	Take-up rate
	Old	New		Old	New
All workers	89	90	86	97	96
Worker characteristics:
Management, professional, and related	91	92	88	96	96
Professional and related	91	92	88	96	96
Teachers	91	91	88	97	97
Primary, secondary, and special education school teachers	97	97	95	98	98
Service	83	84	80	96	95
Protective service	91	91	87	96	96
Sales and office	90	91	88	97	97
Office and administrative support	91	92	89	97	97
Full time	99	99	95	97	96
Part time	39	40	37	93	91
Union	97	97	94	97	97
Nonunion	83	84	80	96	96
Average wage less than $15 per hour (2)	75	75	72	96	95
Average wage $15 per hour or higher (2)	96	96	92	97	96
Average wage less than $24 per hour (2)	84	84	81	96	96
Average wage $24 per hour or higher (2)	97	97	94	97	97
Establishment characteristics:
Education and health services	91	91	88	97	96
Educational services	91	91	88	97	97
Elementary and secondary schools	92	93	90	98	98
Junior colleges, colleges, and universities	86	87	81	94	93
Health care and social assistance	92	92	85	93	93
Hospitals	93	93	85	91	91
Public administration	89	89	86	97	96
1 to 99 workers	77	78	75	97	96
1 to 49 workers	71	72	69	97	95
50 to 99 workers	85	85	83	98	97
100 or more workers	91	92	88	96	96
100 to 499 workers	86	87	84	97	96
500 or more workers	93	93	90	96	96
State government	93	93	89	95	95
Local government	88	89	86	97	97
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The wage breakouts are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold.

Table 8b. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, State and local government workers, National Compensation Survey, September 2007
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	Defined benefit plans
	Definition of Access		Participation (1)	Take-up rate
	Old	New		Old	New
All workers	83	84	79	96	95
Worker characteristics:
Management, professional, and related	86	87	82	95	94
Professional and related	86	87	82	95	94
Teachers	88	89	84	95	94
Primary, secondary, and special education school teachers	96	97	94	98	98
Service	76	77	73	96	95
Protective service	84	84	80	96	96
Sales and office	81	82	78	97	95
Office and administrative support	82	84	79	97	95
Full time	91	92	88	96	95
Part time	37	38	35	94	92
Union	95	96	91	96	95
Nonunion	73	74	70	96	94
Average wage less than $15 per hour (2)	66	67	64	96	95
Average wage $15 per hour or higher (2)	90	91	86	96	95
Average wage less than $24 per hour (2)	76	77	73	96	95
Average wage $24 per hour or higher (2)	93	93	88	95	95
Establishment characteristics:
Education and health services	85	86	81	95	94
Educational services	88	89	84	96	94
Elementary and secondary schools	92	92	89	97	97
Junior colleges, colleges, and universities	75	79	68	90	86
Health care and social assistance	68	71	63	93	90
Hospitals	65	69	61	93	89
Public administration	83	83	80	96	96
1 to 99 workers	65	66	63	97	96
1 to 49 workers	58	59	56	96	94
50 to 99 workers	74	75	73	98	97
100 or more workers	86	87	82	96	95
100 to 499 workers	80	80	76	96	95
500 or more workers	88	89	84	95	94
State government	86	88	80	93	91
Local government	82	82	79	97	96
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The wage breakouts are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold.

Table 8c. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, State and local government workers, National Compensation Survey, September 2007
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	Defined contribution plans
	Definition of Access		Participation (1)	Take-up rate
	Old	New		Old	New
All workers	29	30	18	63	61
Worker characteristics:
Management, professional, and related	29	30	18	60	59
Professional and related	28	28	17	60	58
Teachers	24	25	13	56	55
Primary, secondary, and special education school teachers	17	17	8	44	44
Service	27	28	18	68	65
Protective service	33	35	23	72	67
Sales and office	33	34	22	65	63
Office and administrative support	33	34	21	65	63
Full time	33	34	21	64	62
Part time	8	9	5	57	53
Union	26	27	15	58	56
Nonunion	32	33	21	67	65
Average wage less than $15 per hour (2)	24	26	16	65	62
Average wage $15 per hour or higher (2)	31	32	20	63	61
Average wage less than $24 per hour (2)	28	29	18	64	61
Average wage $24 per hour or higher (2)	30	31	19	63	62
Establishment characteristics:
Education and health services	27	28	16	60	58
Educational services	23	24	13	56	55
Elementary and secondary schools	17	17	8	51	49
Junior colleges, colleges, and universities	45	47	29	63	61
Health care and social assistance	55	55	38	70	69
Hospitals	59	60	39	66	66
Public administration	32	34	22	67	64
1 to 99 workers	25	27	21	83	77
1 to 49 workers	22	25	18	81	72
50 to 99 workers	29	30	24	86	83
100 or more workers	30	31	18	61	59
100 to 499 workers	24	26	15	62	59
500 or more workers	32	32	19	61	59
State government	43	44	27	61	60
Local government	24	25	16	65	62
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The wage breakouts are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold.

The new estimates for access to defined benefits in private industry for 2003-07 run no more than 1 percent higher than the corresponding original estimates. The percentage point differences between original and new estimates for access to defined contribution plans are slightly larger and more variable than those for access to defined benefit plans.⁸ The estimates for access to retirement benefits (of at least one type) are affected by the estimates of access to defined benefit and to defined contribution plans; consequently, the estimates of access to retirement benefits were higher under the new definition of access than under the former definition, but the differences were smaller than for defined contribution benefits.

The new estimates for access to retirement benefits in State and local governments showed less variability between former and new estimates than did the private industry estimates. As with paid sick leave, no standard errors are available for the 2003-07 estimates; therefore, statements on the comparison between the former and new estimates cannot be confirmed by a statistical test.

Tables 9 (a-c), 10 (a-c), and 11 (a-c) show the new and former 2008 estimates for retirement benefits in the entire civilian sector, private industry, and State and local governments, respectively. Standard errors of the new estimates are available for the 2008 data and are shown in the tables with their respective estimates.

Table 9a. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, civilian workers, National Compensation Survey, March 2008
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	All retirement benefits
	Access			Participation (1)	Take-up rate
	Old	New	New standard errors		Old	New	New standard errors
All workers	66	70	0.6	56	86	80	0.7
Worker characteristics:
Management, professional, and related	81	83	0.9	74	92	89	0.5
Management, business, and financial	83	87	1.7	79	94	91	0.7
Professional and related	80	82	0.8	73	91	89	0.7
Teachers	82	83	1.3	79	96	95	0.5
Primary, secondary, and special education school teachers	90	91	1.4	88	98	96	0.6
Registered nurses	80	82	2.1	68	85	83	2.1
Service	44	50	2.1	34	76	67	2.4
Sales and office	67	72	0.9	57	85	79	0.7
Sales and related	60	67	1.2	46	77	69	1.2
Office and administrative support	71	76	1.2	64	90	84	0.6
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance	65	69	1.5	56	86	80	0.9
Construction, extraction, farming, fishing, and forestry	61	66	2.4	51	84	77	1.5
Installation, maintenance, and repair	69	73	1.7	61	88	83	1.2
Production, transportation, and material moving	66	71	1.3	55	83	77	1.1
Production	68	72	1.9	57	84	79	1.3
Transportation and material moving	64	70	1.9	53	82	76	1.4
Full time	75	79	0.5	66	87	83	0.7
Part time	33	39	1.2	25	76	64	1.5
Union	90	91	0.8	86	96	95	0.5
Nonunion	61	66	0.7	51	83	77	0.8
Average wage within the following percentiles(2):
Less than 10	26	35	3.1	15	59	44	2.9
10 to under 25	45	52	1.2	32	72	63	1.6
25 to under 50	66	72	1.0	55	83	77	0.8
50 to under 75	76	79	0.8	68	90	85	0.5
75 to under 90	84	86	0.9	78	93	91	0.5
90 or greater	88	89	0.9	82	94	92	0.7
Establishment characteristics:
Goods-producing industries	72	76	1.2	62	87	82	0.9
Service-providing industries	64	69	0.7	55	86	80	0.8
Education and health services	75	78	1.0	67	90	87	0.9
Educational services	85	87	0.7	82	96	95	0.5
Elementary and secondary schools	89	90	0.6	87	98	97	0.4
Junior colleges, colleges, and universities	85	87	1.2	79	93	91	1.2
Health care and social assistance	67	71	1.7	56	84	79	1.5
Hospitals	88	89	1.1	78	88	88	1.1
Public administration	89	89	1.2	86	96	96	0.6
1 to 99 workers	47	54	1.0	39	82	71	1.0
1 to 49 workers	42	50	1.3	35	83	71	1.1
50 to 99 workers	59	66	2.0	48	81	72	1.5
100 or more workers	82	84	0.8	72	88	86	1.1
100 to 499 workers	75	78	1.3	63	85	80	0.9
500 or more workers	89	90	0.7	80	90	90	1.9
Geographic areas
New England	60	65	1.2	53	89	82	1.7
Middle Atlantic	66	70	1.3	60	91	85	0.5
East North Central	67	72	1.2	59	89	83	1.1
West North Central	68	73	1.9	60	89	83	1.6
South Atlantic	68	73	1.2	56	83	77	1.1
East South Central	70	74	5.1	53	76	72	7.3
West South Central	61	67	1.6	52	84	77	1.7
Mountain	67	70	3.0	56	83	79	1.0
Pacific	64	68	2.1	55	86	81	1.1
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The percentile groupings are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold. The percentile values are based on the estimates published in "National Compensation Survey: Occupational Earnings in the United States, 2007." See the Technical Note for details.

Table 9b. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, civilian workers, National Compensation Survey, March 2008
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	Defined benefit plans
	Access			Participation (1)	Take-up rate
	Old	New	New standard errors		Old	New	New standard errors
All workers	31	31	0.7	29	96	95	0.5
Worker characteristics:
Management, professional, and related	46	47	1.0	44	96	95	0.7
Management, business, and financial	43	44	1.7	41	96	95	0.6
Professional and related	47	48	1.1	46	96	95	0.9
Teachers	71	72	1.9	68	96	95	1.0
Primary, secondary, and special education school teachers	84	84	1.7	82	98	98	0.4
Registered nurses	38	38	3.2	36	97	95	1.4
Service	19	19	1.1	18	96	95	0.5
Sales and office	25	25	0.7	23	94	93	0.5
Sales and related	15	15	1.2	14	90	89	1.4
Office and administrative support	31	31	0.8	29	96	95	0.6
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance	31	31	1.5	30	98	97	0.5
Construction, extraction, farming, fishing, and forestry	30	30	2.1	30	99	98	0.7
Installation, maintenance, and repair	32	32	1.7	31	96	95	0.7
Production, transportation, and material moving	29	29	1.2	27	96	96	0.5
Production	28	28	1.5	28	98	97	0.5
Transportation and material moving	29	29	1.6	27	94	94	0.8
Full time	36	36	0.8	34	96	95	0.5
Part time	13	14	0.7	12	92	90	0.9
Union	80	80	1.2	77	97	96	0.4
Nonunion	21	22	0.7	20	95	94	0.6
Average wage within the following percentiles(2):
Less than 10	5	5	0.7	5	88	87	2.0
10 to under 25	12	12	0.8	11	91	90	1.3
25 to under 50	25	25	0.9	24	96	95	0.5
50 to under 75	36	37	0.9	35	96	95	0.7
75 to under 90	53	54	1.1	52	97	96	0.4
90 or greater	53	54	1.2	51	96	95	0.7
Establishment characteristics:
Goods-producing industries	30	30	1.4	29	98	97	0.6
Service-providing industries	31	31	0.7	29	95	94	0.5
Education and health services	46	47	1.3	44	96	95	1.3
Educational services	73	75	1.0	71	96	95	1.4
Elementary and secondary schools	85	86	1.0	83	98	97	0.4
Junior colleges, colleges, and universities	54	57	2.5	49	90	86	5.4
Health care and social assistance	26	26	1.6	25	96	95	1.3
Hospitals	51	52	2.6	49	96	94	2.0
Public administration	83	83	1.5	79	96	95	0.7
1 to 99 workers	12	12	0.6	11	96	94	0.6
1 to 49 workers	9	10	0.6	9	96	95	0.9
50 to 99 workers	18	18	1.2	17	96	94	0.9
100 or more workers	47	48	1.2	45	96	95	0.6
100 to 499 workers	32	32	1.2	30	96	95	0.5
500 or more workers	61	62	2.5	59	96	95	0.8
Geographic areas
New England	29	29	2.0	27	96	95	1.1
Middle Atlantic	35	36	1.3	34	96	94	1.1
East North Central	33	33	1.2	32	96	96	0.4
West North Central	30	31	2.2	28	94	91	4.5
South Atlantic	29	29	1.0	28	94	94	0.7
East South Central	26	26	6.5	25	96	96	1.6
West South Central	27	27	1.6	26	97	97	0.3
Mountain	27	27	2.1	26	96	96	1.2
Pacific	33	33	1.4	32	96	96	0.6
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The percentile groupings are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold. The percentile values are based on the estimates published in "National Compensation Survey: Occupational Earnings in the United States, 2007." See the Technical Note for details.

Table 9c. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, civilian workers, National Compensation Survey, March 2008
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	Defined contribution plans
	Access			Participation (1)	Take-up rate
	Old	New	New standard errors		Old	New	New standard errors
All workers	52	57	0.7	39	76	69	0.7
Worker characteristics:
Management, professional, and related	59	62	1.0	47	80	76	0.8
Management, business, and financial	72	76	1.7	61	86	81	0.8
Professional and related	54	57	1.0	42	77	74	1.0
Teachers	29	30	1.8	20	68	66	2.9
Primary, secondary, and special education school teachers	20	21	2.0	11	57	55	4.2
Registered nurses	64	66	2.7	45	70	68	2.1
Service	32	38	2.4	20	62	51	1.9
Sales and office	59	65	1.0	46	77	70	0.7
Sales and related	57	64	1.3	41	73	65	1.2
Office and administrative support	60	65	1.3	48	80	74	0.8
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance	51	56	1.3	39	77	70	1.0
Construction, extraction, farming, fishing, and forestry	44	50	2.2	33	75	67	1.8
Installation, maintenance, and repair	59	63	1.7	46	78	73	1.3
Production, transportation, and material moving	55	60	1.3	41	74	67	1.1
Production	60	65	2.0	45	74	69	1.5
Transportation and material moving	50	55	2.0	36	73	66	1.4
Full time	60	64	0.7	46	77	71	0.7
Part time	26	32	1.1	17	65	52	1.6
Union	40	41	1.3	30	76	74	1.6
Nonunion	54	60	0.8	41	76	68	0.7
Average wage within the following percentiles(2):
Less than 10	24	33	3.2	13	54	39	2.6
10 to under 25	39	45	1.2	25	65	55	1.8
25 to under 50	54	60	1.0	40	73	66	0.8
50 to under 75	59	63	0.9	46	79	74	0.6
75 to under 90	61	64	1.0	49	81	77	0.8
90 or greater	67	69	1.1	56	84	81	1.0
Establishment characteristics:
Goods-producing industries	63	68	1.2	50	79	74	0.9
Service-providing industries	50	55	0.9	37	75	68	0.8
Education and health services	45	48	1.4	32	72	67	1.5
Educational services	30	31	1.5	20	69	65	2.4
Elementary and secondary schools	18	19	1.6	10	57	55	3.7
Junior colleges, colleges, and universities	59	61	3.1	45	76	74	2.4
Health care and social assistance	56	61	1.9	41	73	68	1.7
Hospitals	69	70	2.3	49	70	69	1.5
Public administration	32	33	2.2	21	64	62	3.8
1 to 99 workers	41	49	1.0	32	78	66	0.9
1 to 49 workers	38	46	1.3	30	80	66	1.1
50 to 99 workers	51	58	1.9	38	74	65	1.4
100 or more workers	61	64	1.0	45	74	71	1.1
100 to 499 workers	61	65	1.3	46	75	71	1.0
500 or more workers	61	62	1.6	45	73	72	1.9
Geographic areas
New England	46	51	1.2	38	82	74	1.1
Middle Atlantic	48	53	1.1	40	82	75	1.0
East North Central	54	59	1.3	41	76	70	1.3
West North Central	54	59	1.9	44	81	75	1.7
South Atlantic	58	64	1.2	41	70	63	1.5
East South Central	55	59	6.9	35	64	60	5.7
West South Central	49	55	1.6	36	73	65	1.5
Mountain	54	58	2.4	41	76	71	1.2
Pacific	47	51	2.1	37	78	72	1.4
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The percentile groupings are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold. The percentile values are based on the estimates published in "National Compensation Survey: Occupational Earnings in the United States, 2007." See the Technical Note for details.

Table 10a. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, private industry, National Compensation Survey, March 2008
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	All retirement benefits
	Definition of Access			Participation (1)	Take-up Rate
	Old	New	New standard errors		Old	New	New standard errors
All workers	61	67	0.7	51	83	77	0.8
Worker characteristics:
Management, professional, and related	76	80	1.2	68	90	86	0.7
Management, business, and financial	82	86	2.0	77	94	89	0.8
Professional and related	73	76	1.2	64	88	84	1.0
Service	37	44	2.7	25	68	57	2.5
Sales and office	65	71	1.0	55	84	77	0.8
Sales and related	60	67	1.3	46	77	69	1.2
Office and administrative support	68	73	1.4	60	88	82	0.7
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance	62	67	1.6	52	84	78	1.0
Construction, extraction, farming, fishing, and forestry	58	64	2.6	47	82	74	1.7
Installation, maintenance, and repair	67	71	1.9	58	86	81	1.4
Production, transportation, and material moving	65	70	1.3	54	82	76	1.1
Production	68	72	1.9	57	84	79	1.3
Transportation and material moving	63	69	2.0	51	81	74	1.5
Full time	71	76	0.6	60	85	79	0.8
Part time	32	38	1.3	23	73	61	1.7
Union	85	86	1.4	80	95	94	0.9
Nonunion	59	65	0.8	48	81	74	0.8
Average wage within the following percentiles(2):
Less than 10	25	34	3.2	14	57	42	3.0
10 to under 25	41	48	1.6	28	68	58	1.7
25 to under 50	63	69	1.1	50	80	73	0.9
50 to under 75	70	75	1.0	61	87	82	0.7
75 to under 90	79	83	1.1	73	91	88	0.8
90 or greater	84	86	1.2	78	92	90	0.9
Establishment characteristics:
Goods-producing industries	71	76	1.2	62	86	82	0.9
Construction	55	61	2.1	45	83	74	1.5
Manufacturing	78	82	1.4	69	87	84	1.0
Service-providing industries	59	65	0.9	49	82	75	1.0
Trade, transportation, and utilities	67	73	1.0	54	81	74	0.9
Wholesale trade	76	82	2.5	66	87	81	1.2
Retail trade	61	68	1.1	46	75	67	1.1
Transportation and warehousing	73	75	3.1	63	86	84	1.8
Utilities	94	95	2.3	93	99	98	0.7
Information	78	81	4.3	73	94	90	1.7
Financial activities	79	84	1.9	73	92	87	1.1
Finance and insurance	88	90	1.1	82	94	92	0.7
Credit intermediation and related activities	92	94	0.9	87	94	92	0.9
Insurance carriers and related activities	83	85	1.8	77	93	91	1.0
Real estate and rental and leasing	47	62	4.5	39	84	64	4.2
Professional and business services	54	59	2.3	46	85	79	1.7
Professional and technical services	71	75	2.9	63	89	85	2.0
Administrative and waste services	33	37	3.2	24	74	65	4.2
Education and health services	64	69	1.7	54	84	79	1.5
Educational services	64	70	2.7	58	91	83	2.0
Junior colleges, colleges, and universities	85	88	1.2	77	91	87	1.2
Health care and social assistance	64	69	1.8	53	83	78	1.7
Leisure and hospitality	30	40	6.5	18	59	45	3.0
Accommodation and food services	29	40	6.8	17	57	42	2.7
Other services	40	47	3.3	31	79	67	3.3
1 to 99 workers	45	53	1.1	37	81	70	1.0
1 to 49 workers	41	49	1.4	34	82	69	1.2
50 to 99 workers	58	65	2.1	45	79	70	1.6
100 or more workers	79	82	1.0	67	85	82	1.4
100 to 499 workers	73	77	1.5	60	83	78	1.0
500 or more workers	87	88	1.2	76	87	86	2.8
Geographic areas
Metropolitan areas	62	68	0.7	53	84	78	0.6
Nonmetropolitan areas	57	63	2.8	44	77	70	3.8
New England	56	62	1.3	49	87	79	1.7
Middle Atlantic	62	67	1.4	55	90	83	0.6
East North Central	64	70	1.3	56	87	80	1.2
West North Central	64	70	2.0	56	87	81	1.8
South Atlantic	63	70	1.3	50	79	72	1.6
East South Central	65	70	6.7	45	69	64	7.4
West South Central	56	62	1.9	45	80	72	1.8
Mountain	63	67	3.3	51	80	75	0.9
Pacific	58	63	2.5	49	83	77	1.6
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The percentile groupings are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold. The percentile values are based on the estimates published in "National Compensation Survey: Occupational Earnings in the United States, 2007." See the Technical Note for details.

Table 10b. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, private industry, National Compensation Survey, March 2008
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	Defined benefit plans
	Definition of Access			Participation (1)	Take-up Rate
	Old	New	New standard errors		Old	New	New standard errors
All workers	21	22	0.7	20	96	95	0.4
Worker characteristics:
Management, professional, and related	29	30	1.3	28	97	95	0.6
Management, business, and financial	35	35	1.9	34	97	96	0.6
Professional and related	26	27	1.3	26	96	95	0.8
Service	9	9	0.7	8	95	94	0.9
Sales and office	20	20	0.7	19	94	93	0.6
Sales and related	15	15	1.2	13	89	89	1.5
Office and administrative support	23	23	0.8	22	96	95	0.5
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance	26	26	1.6	25	98	97	0.6
Construction, extraction, farming, fishing, and forestry	24	25	2.1	24	100	98	0.8
Installation, maintenance, and repair	28	28	1.7	26	95	95	0.9
Production, transportation, and material moving	26	27	1.2	25	96	95	0.6
Production	27	28	1.5	27	98	97	0.5
Transportation and material moving	25	25	1.7	24	94	93	1.0
Full time	25	25	0.8	24	96	95	0.3
Part time	11	11	0.7	10	90	89	1.1
Union	69	69	1.9	67	97	97	0.4
Nonunion	16	16	0.6	15	95	94	0.5
Average wage within the following percentiles(2):
Less than 10	4	4	0.7	4	87	86	2.5
10 to under 25	9	9	0.8	8	89	87	1.8
25 to under 50	16	16	0.8	15	95	94	0.7
50 to under 75	25	25	1.0	24	97	96	0.5
75 to under 90	40	40	1.3	38	97	96	0.4
90 or greater	39	40	1.3	38	96	95	0.7
Establishment characteristics:
Goods-producing industries	30	30	1.4	29	98	97	0.6
Construction	18	19	1.8	18	100	98	1.1
Manufacturing	34	34	1.8	33	98	97	0.7
Service-providing industries	19	19	0.7	18	95	94	0.5
Trade, transportation, and utilities	22	22	1.2	20	91	90	1.0
Wholesale trade	16	16	2.3	16	98	98	0.8
Retail trade	17	17	1.2	15	88	87	1.8
Transportation and warehousing	41	41	3.3	36	88	88	1.8
Utilities	85	86	3.6	84	98	97	0.9
Information	49	49	4.7	48	98	97	0.8
Financial activities	42	42	1.4	40	97	96	0.5
Finance and insurance	50	50	1.5	48	97	96	0.5
Credit intermediation and related activities	56	56	2.1	55	98	98	0.3
Insurance carriers and related activities	45	46	3.0	44	96	95	1.1
Real estate and rental and leasing	11	11	2.1	11	98	98	2.0
Professional and business services	13	13	2.0	13	98	97	1.0
Professional and technical services	9	9	2.1	9	100	100	0.2
Administrative and waste services	10	10	2.7	10	99	98	0.8
Education and health services	21	21	1.4	20	96	95	0.6
Educational services	16	17	2.5	14	92	86	3.9
Junior colleges, colleges, and universities	18	20	3.9	16	89	85	4.3
Health care and social assistance	22	22	1.6	21	97	96	0.6
Leisure and hospitality	3	3	0.7	2	96	93	5.0
Accommodation and food services	3	3	0.8	3	96	96	4.3
Other services	8	9	1.8	8	93	91	3.9
1 to 99 workers	9	10	0.6	9	96	94	0.8
1 to 49 workers	8	8	0.6	7	96	95	1.0
50 to 99 workers	14	14	1.2	13	95	93	1.1
100 or more workers	35	35	1.3	33	96	95	0.4
100 to 499 workers	24	25	1.2	23	95	94	0.7
500 or more workers	47	47	3.0	45	96	95	0.4
Geographic areas
Metropolitan areas	23	23	0.7	22	96	95	0.4
Nonmetropolitan areas	14	15	1.7	14	96	95	1.1
New England	20	20	1.6	19	95	94	1.1
Middle Atlantic	27	27	1.3	26	97	95	0.7
East North Central	26	26	1.3	25	96	95	0.6
West North Central	23	23	1.6	22	95	95	1.5
South Atlantic	18	18	1.1	17	95	94	0.8
East South Central	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
West South Central	17	18	1.4	17	96	95	0.5
Mountain	18	18	1.2	17	94	94	2.1
Pacific	22	23	2.0	21	96	95	1.0
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The percentile groupings are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold. The percentile values are based on the estimates published in "National Compensation Survey: Occupational Earnings in the United States, 2007." See the Technical Note for details.

Table 10c. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, private industry, National Compensation Survey, March 2008
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	Defined contribution plans
	Definition of Access			Participation (1)	Take-up Rate
	Old	New	New standard errors		Old	New	New standard errors
All workers	56	62	0.7	43	77	70	0.7
Worker characteristics:
Management, professional, and related	72	76	1.2	60	84	79	0.7
Management, business, and financial	79	84	2.0	69	88	82	0.7
Professional and related	69	72	1.2	56	81	78	1.0
Service	33	40	2.8	20	62	50	2.0
Sales and office	61	68	1.0	48	78	71	0.7
Sales and related	57	64	1.3	41	73	65	1.2
Office and administrative support	64	70	1.4	52	82	75	0.8
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance	53	58	1.4	41	77	71	1.1
Construction, extraction, farming, fishing, and forestry	46	52	2.4	35	75	67	1.8
Installation, maintenance, and repair	61	65	1.8	48	79	74	1.4
Production, transportation, and material moving	57	62	1.3	42	73	67	1.1
Production	61	65	2.0	45	74	69	1.5
Transportation and material moving	52	58	2.1	38	73	66	1.4
Full time	65	70	0.7	51	78	72	0.7
Part time	27	34	1.2	18	65	52	1.7
Union	50	52	1.8	42	83	81	1.5
Nonunion	57	63	0.8	43	76	69	0.7
Average wage within the following percentiles(2):
Less than 10	24	32	3.3	13	54	39	2.8
10 to under 25	38	45	1.5	24	63	53	1.8
25 to under 50	58	64	1.1	43	74	66	0.9
50 to under 75	63	68	1.0	51	80	74	0.7
75 to under 90	70	74	1.2	59	83	79	0.8
90 or greater	80	82	1.2	69	87	84	1.1
Establishment characteristics:
Goods-producing industries	64	68	1.2	50	79	74	0.9
Construction	44	50	2.1	35	78	68	1.7
Manufacturing	72	76	1.5	57	79	75	1.0
Service-providing industries	54	60	0.9	41	76	69	0.9
Trade, transportation, and utilities	61	67	1.2	46	75	69	0.8
Wholesale trade	72	78	2.6	60	83	77	1.4
Retail trade	56	63	1.2	39	70	62	1.1
Transportation and warehousing	59	61	3.4	46	78	76	2.3
Utilities	85	87	5.5	72	85	83	3.1
Information	77	80	4.3	62	80	77	1.6
Financial activities	75	82	2.2	62	83	77	1.0
Finance and insurance	84	88	1.3	70	83	80	0.7
Credit intermediation and related activities	88	92	1.3	71	81	77	0.9
Insurance carriers and related activities	79	83	2.1	67	86	81	1.4
Real estate and rental and leasing	42	57	5.5	34	81	60	4.0
Professional and business services	53	57	2.3	43	81	75	1.7
Professional and technical services	70	74	3.0	61	87	83	2.1
Administrative and waste services	31	36	3.1	21	69	60	4.3
Education and health services	57	61	2.0	43	76	70	1.7
Educational services	59	64	2.8	52	89	81	2.0
Junior colleges, colleges, and universities	83	87	1.3	75	90	86	1.2
Health care and social assistance	56	61	2.1	42	74	68	1.9
Leisure and hospitality	29	39	6.7	16	56	42	3.0
Accommodation and food services	28	39	6.9	15	54	38	2.8
Other services	34	42	3.2	26	77	62	3.3
1 to 99 workers	42	50	1.0	33	78	65	0.9
1 to 49 workers	39	47	1.3	31	80	66	1.1
50 to 99 workers	52	60	2.1	39	74	65	1.5
100 or more workers	71	75	1.1	55	76	73	1.2
100 to 499 workers	66	71	1.5	51	76	71	1.1
500 or more workers	78	79	1.5	59	76	75	2.4
Geographic areas
Metropolitan areas	57	62	0.7	44	78	71	0.6
Nonmetropolitan areas	54	59	3.0	38	71	64	3.2
New England	52	58	1.3	43	82	74	1.1
Middle Atlantic	53	59	1.4	44	82	75	1.1
East North Central	57	63	1.4	45	80	72	1.4
West North Central	58	64	1.9	48	82	75	1.5
South Atlantic	61	67	1.4	45	74	66	1.5
East South Central	63	68	6.9	40	64	60	6.0
West South Central	53	60	1.7	39	73	65	1.5
Mountain	60	64	2.8	45	75	71	1.2
Pacific	51	56	2.4	39	77	70	1.5
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The percentile groupings are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold. The percentile values are based on the estimates published in "National Compensation Survey: Occupational Earnings in the United States, 2007." See the Technical Note for details.

Table 11a. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, State and local government workers, National Compensation Survey, March 2008
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	All retirement benefits
	Definition of Access			Participation (1)	Take-up Rate
	Old	New	New standard errors		Old	New	New standard errors
All workers	89	90	0.6	86	96	96	0.4
Worker characteristics:
Management, professional, and related	91	92	0.6	88	96	96	0.5
Professional and related	91	91	0.6	88	96	96	0.5
Teachers	91	91	0.7	88	97	97	0.4
Primary, secondary, and special education school teachers	96	97	0.4	95	98	98	0.3
Registered nurses	94	94	1.7	88	93	93	1.3
Service	83	84	1.2	79	96	95	0.7
Protective service	91	91	1.0	87	96	96	0.9
Sales and office	90	91	1.4	87	97	96	0.5
Office and administrative support	91	92	1.3	88	97	96	0.5
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance	93	93	1.9	91	98	97	0.6
Production, transportation, and material moving	87	87	4.2	85	98	97	0.7
Full time	99	99	0.3	95	97	96	0.4
Part time	40	40	1.8	37	94	92	1.3
Union	97	97	0.3	94	97	97	0.4
Nonunion	83	84	0.9	80	96	95	0.7
Average wage within the following percentiles(2):
Less than 10	58	59	2.3	55	94	93	1.2
10 to under 25	84	85	1.5	81	96	95	0.7
25 to under 50	93	94	0.6	90	96	96	0.7
50 to under 75	95	95	1.0	91	96	96	0.6
75 to under 90	97	97	0.5	94	97	97	0.4
90 or greater	98	98	0.4	95	97	97	0.4
Establishment characteristics:
Service-providing	89	90	0.6	86	96	96	0.4
Education and health services	91	91	0.5	88	97	96	0.5
Educational services	91	91	0.5	88	97	97	0.5
Elementary and secondary schools	92	93	0.4	90	98	98	0.3
Junior colleges, colleges, and universities	85	86	1.9	80	94	93	1.7
Health care and social assistance	92	92	1.3	85	93	92	1.7
Hospitals	93	93	1.6	84	91	91	2.5
Public administration	89	89	1.2	86	96	96	0.6
1 to 99 workers	77	78	2.3	75	97	96	0.8
1 to 49 workers	71	72	3.5	69	97	95	1.2
50 to 99 workers	85	85	2.4	83	98	97	0.9
100 or more workers	91	91	0.5	88	96	96	0.5
100 to 499 workers	87	87	1.1	84	96	96	0.5
500 or more workers	93	93	0.5	89	96	96	0.5
State government	93	93	1.0	88	95	94	1.2
Local government	88	89	0.6	85	97	96	0.4
Geographic areas
New England	85	86	1.9	82	96	96	2.1
Middle Atlantic	90	91	0.7	87	96	95	1.5
East North Central	85	85	1.7	82	97	97	0.4
West North Central	89	89	1.9	83	93	93	2.4
South Atlantic	90	90	1.2	86	95	95	0.9
East South Central	90	90	3.4	86	96	96	2.2
West South Central	91	91	1.6	89	99	98	0.3
Mountain	89	90	1.9	87	97	97	1.2
Pacific	92	92	1.0	89	97	97	0.8
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The wage breakouts are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold.

Table 11b. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, State and local government workers, National Compensation Survey, March 2008
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	Defined benefit plans
	Access			Participation (1)	Take-up rate
	Old	New	New standard errors		Old	New	New standard errors
All workers	83	84	0.9	79	96	95	1.0
Worker characteristics:
Management, professional, and related	86	87	0.9	82	96	94	1.2
Professional and related	86	87	0.9	82	96	95	1.3
Teachers	88	89	1.0	85	96	95	1.0
Primary, secondary, and special education school teachers	96	97	0.4	95	98	98	0.3
Registered nurses	75	77	3.9	73	96	94	4.2
Service	76	77	1.6	73	96	95	0.7
Protective service	84	84	2.0	81	96	96	1.0
Sales and office	81	82	1.7	78	96	95	1.5
Office and administrative support	82	83	1.6	79	96	95	1.5
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance	85	86	2.8	83	98	97	0.9
Production, transportation, and material moving	80	80	4.4	78	98	98	0.7
Full time	91	92	0.8	88	96	95	1.1
Part time	37	38	1.8	35	95	92	1.4
Union	95	96	0.4	91	96	96	0.8
Nonunion	73	74	1.5	70	96	94	1.4
Average wage within the following percentiles(2):
Less than 10	48	50	3.0	46	96	94	1.3
10 to under 25	76	77	1.7	73	96	95	0.7
25 to under 50	86	88	1.0	83	96	94	1.8
50 to under 75	88	88	1.4	84	96	95	1.2
75 to under 90	94	94	0.7	91	97	96	0.6
90 or greater	92	93	1.5	88	96	95	1.5
Establishment characteristics:
Service-providing	83	84	0.9	79	96	95	1.0
Education and health services	85	86	0.8	82	96	94	1.8
Educational services	87	89	0.7	84	96	95	1.4
Elementary and secondary schools	91	92	0.5	89	98	97	0.3
Junior colleges, colleges, and universities	74	78	2.7	67	90	86	6.1
Health care and social assistance	69	71	3.6	64	93	90	4.8
Hospitals	65	68	4.5	61	94	89	7.3
Public administration	83	83	1.5	79	96	95	0.7
1 to 99 workers	64	65	3.1	63	98	96	1.0
1 to 49 workers	57	58	4.2	55	96	94	1.6
50 to 99 workers	75	76	3.9	74	99	98	0.8
100 or more workers	85	86	0.8	82	96	95	1.2
100 to 499 workers	81	81	1.5	77	96	95	0.5
500 or more workers	87	88	0.9	84	96	95	1.5
State government	85	88	1.5	79	93	90	3.5
Local government	82	82	0.9	80	97	97	0.3
Geographic areas
New England	85	86	1.9	82	97	96	2.2
Middle Atlantic	87	88	1.0	82	94	93	2.6
East North Central	79	80	2.2	77	97	97	0.4
West North Central	70	77	6.3	65	92	84	10.2
South Atlantic	87	87	1.2	81	94	93	1.0
East South Central	80	80	4.9	78	98	98	2.1
West South Central	78	78	1.3	77	99	99	0.2
Mountain	83	84	3.0	82	99	98	0.6
Pacific	87	88	1.9	85	98	97	0.7
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The wage breakouts are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold.

Table 11c. Retirement benefits: Access, participation, and take-up rates, State and local government workers, National Compensation Survey, March 2008
(All workers = 100 percent)

Characteristics	Defined contribution plans
	Access			Participation (1)	Take-up rate
	Old	New	New standard errors		Old	New	New standard errors
All workers	29	30	1.5	18	62	60	2.7
Worker characteristics:
Management, professional, and related	29	30	1.7	17	59	58	3.2
Professional and related	28	28	1.7	16	58	57	3.3
Teachers	24	24	1.7	13	56	55	4.0
Primary, secondary, and special education school teachers	16	16	1.7	7	43	42	4.8
Registered nurses	48	48	4.8	29	60	60	6.8
Service	26	28	1.7	17	64	61	3.0
Protective service	33	35	2.6	21	66	62	4.1
Sales and office	33	34	2.2	21	64	62	3.3
Office and administrative support	33	33	2.2	21	63	62	3.5
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance	28	32	3.2	19	66	58	4.8
Production, transportation, and material moving	20	22	3.3	16	77	71	5.5
Full time	32	34	1.6	20	62	60	2.7
Part time	9	9	1.1	5	54	52	5.3
Union	26	26	1.8	15	57	55	4.0
Nonunion	31	33	1.9	20	65	63	3.2
Average wage within the following percentiles(2):
Establishment characteristics:
Less than 10	17	18	2.0	11	66	63	4.3
10 to under 25	27	29	2.2	16	61	57	3.2
25 to under 50	31	32	2.3	19	61	59	3.8
50 to under 75	32	33	2.1	20	62	61	3.3
75 to under 90	29	30	1.7	17	59	58	3.2
90 or greater	32	32	2.3	21	65	64	4.3
Service-providing	29	30	1.5	18	62	60	2.7
Education and health services	27	28	1.9	16	59	58	3.6
Educational services	23	23	1.8	13	56	55	3.7
Elementary and secondary schools	16	16	1.5	8	50	49	4.4
Junior colleges, colleges, and universities	45	47	4.7	29	63	61	5.0
Health care and social assistance	57	57	3.5	37	66	65	5.1
Hospitals	60	60	4.4	40	67	67	5.0
Public administration	32	33	2.2	21	64	62	3.8
1 to 99 workers	24	26	2.7	20	82	75	4.0
1 to 49 workers	23	25	3.0	18	81	73	6.1
50 to 99 workers	26	28	4.0	21	83	77	5.2
100 or more workers	30	30	1.6	18	59	58	3.0
100 to 499 workers	25	27	2.5	16	61	58	4.1
500 or more workers	31	32	1.8	18	59	58	3.2
State government	44	45	3.2	26	59	59	5.1
Local government	24	25	1.3	15	63	61	2.4
Geographic areas
New England	7	7	1.4	6	85	82	10.6
Middle Atlantic	19	19	3.3	14	74	73	3.0
East North Central	36	36	3.8	14	39	38	7.9
West North Central	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
South Atlantic	47	48	3.9	21	46	44	4.0
East South Central	20	20	3.8	13	64	62	13.5
West South Central	25	27	2.1	19	78	70	3.9
Mountain	19	21	3.8	15	80	71	8.1
Pacific	26	26	3.7	23	89	88	2.5
Footnotes: (1) The methodology for computing participation estimates were unchanged and therefore were not recalculated. (2) The wage breakouts are based on the average wage for each occupation surveyed, which may include workers both above and below the threshold.
NOTE: Dashes indicate estimates did not meet publication cruteria.

Measured differences between the old and new estimates

To measure the degree of difference between the original and new estimates, a range of two standard errors was computed around the new estimate. This range was then compared with the original estimates. This section analyzes the number of original estimates that differ from the new estimates by more than two standard errors.

The civilian sector, as defined in the NCS, consists of private industry and State and local government. Estimates of access to retirement benefits for the civilian sector reflect data on access for workers in private industry and State and local government. As shown in table 9, none of the original estimates to defined benefit plans fall outside the two-standard-error range for the 51 estimates published. The original estimates of access to defined contribution plans fall outside of the two-standard-error range for 37 of the 51 estimates published.

Private industry estimates of access to defined benefit plans did not fall outside the two-standard-error range for any of the 66 estimates published, confirming that the estimates of access to defined benefit plans in private industry were largely unaffected by the change in definition. The original estimates for defined contribution plans fall outside the two-standard-error range for 48 of the 66 estimates published. (See table 10.)

As shown in table 11, the original State and local government estimates of access to defined benefit plans fall outside the two-standard-error range for only 3 of the 47 estimates published. None of the 46 original defined contribution estimates fall outside the two-standard-error range.⁹

Conclusion

The NCS has published new estimates of worker access to paid sick leave under new definitions of access for 2004 to 2008. The NCS has also published for the first time retirement estimates under the new definition of access for the survey years 2003-08, new take-up rate estimates for 2005 through 2008, and standard errors for the new estimates. The definition of participation has remained the same despite these changes in definition of access. From 2009 forward, NCS publications on access to paid sick leave, defined benefit plans, defined contribution plans, and (all) retirement plans will be based on the new definitions of employee access to these benefits.

 

Natalie Kramer
Economist, Division of Compensation Data Analysis and Planning, Office of Compensation and Working Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Telephone: (202) 691-6262; E-mail: Kramer.Natalie@bls.gov.

Alan Zilberman
Economist, Division of Compensation Data Analysis and Planning, Office of Compensation and Working Conditions, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Telephone: (202) 691-5179; E-mail: Zilberman.Alan@bls.gov.

 

Notes

1 A provision is a detail of a benefit plan, such as the amount of the co-payment an insured party pays for a doctor’s office visit and the number of years of service that are required before an employee is eligible to receive a payout from a pension plan.

2 Prior to 2003, attempts had been made to estimate employees’ access to benefits; however, the methods of data collection did not allow for an easy production of such estimates. For a discussion of earlier attempts to estimate access to benefit plans, see Michael Bucci and Robert Grant, “Employer-sponsored health insurance: what’s offered; what’s chosen?,” Monthly Labor Review, October 1995, pp. 38-44.

3 Take-up rates were introduced into the NCS in March 2005.

4 Although access estimates were introduced in 2003, estimates of access to paid sick leave were published only from 2004 onward.

5 For more information, see exhibit.

6 Despite the fact that the NCS collects data on employer costs of paid sick leave, which is related to the use of this benefit, no data on the use of sick leave are available from the NCS.

7 For the NCS, retirement benefits consist of two kinds of plans: defined contribution plans and defined benefit (or traditional pension) plans. To compute data on retirement benefits in general, regardless of type, the NCS uses an algorithm designed to ensure that workers participating in both a defined benefit plan and a defined contribution plan will not be double counted. For more information, see the Bureau of Labor Statistics Handbook of Methods.

8 Estimates of access to defined benefit plans were affected less by the change in definition of access than were estimates of access to defined contribution plans, perhaps because participation in defined benefit plans is typically automatic, so we are more likely to have participants and therefore count all workers as having access. This is not true for defined contribution plan, which often requires a contribution to participate.

9 The March 2008 estimates for access to defined contribution plans for the West North Central census division did not meet publication criteria.