Among workers enrolled in employer-sponsored family health coverage in 2025, the average worker contribution toward the annual premium was $6,850, or about $571 per month.
BLS reports that in 1987, 86.1% of private employers’ retirement-benefit spending went to defined-benefit plans and 13.9% to defined-contribution plans. By 2022, the shares had reversed: 29.4% went to defined-benefit plans and 70.6% to defi
KFF reports that the average annual premium for employer-sponsored family health coverage increased 53% from 2015 to 2025. Over the same ten years, workers’ wages rose 48.2% and inflation rose 35.8%.
A defined-benefit pension promises a formula-based retirement benefit and generally leaves the employer responsible for funding promised benefits. A defined-contribution plan such as a 401(k) promises no specific retirement benefit; the wor
Federal Reserve Financial Accounts data show that household debt equaled about 67% of disposable personal income at the end of 1980 and about 90% at the end of 2025.
Congress added section 401(k) to the Internal Revenue Code in the Revenue Act of 1978. The IRS published regulations for section 401(k) in 1981, and the first 401(k) plans were established soon afterward. The provision allowed employees to
In March 2025, 14% of private-industry workers had access to a defined-benefit retirement plan, while 70% had access to a defined-contribution plan. Defined-benefit plans promise a formula-based benefit; defined-contribution plans build ind
In March 2025, only 38% of private-industry workers in the lowest 10% wage category had access to an employer retirement plan, compared with 93% of workers in the highest 10% wage category. Participation was 15% versus 83%.
The Social Security Amendments of 1983 gradually raised the age for unreduced retirement benefits from 65 to 67. The change applies fully to workers born after 1959, whose full retirement age is 67.
The 1983 Social Security amendments retained the ability to claim reduced retirement benefits at age 62 while raising full retirement age to 67. For workers whose full retirement age is 67, claiming at 62 can produce a permanent reduction o
