Losing relied-upon benefits, government workers delay retirement

The slumping economy is causing even state and local government employees, who typically get traditional fully loaded pensions, to hold off on retirement, according to a survey released today. Forty-nine percent of government managers said that 80% of workers who were eligible to retire in the next five years were rethinking their retirement date, said the Washington-based Center for State and Local Government Excellence. Of those surveyed, 85% were delaying retirement while only 9% said they were accelerating retirement to avoid changes that would reduce benefits, and about 6% said employees were taking incentives for early retirement. As of 2005, the most recent data from center, 92% of public-sector workers had defined benefit pensions, and only one-third of private-sector workers had them. Data released February 2009 from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that 84% of government workers had access to defined benefit pensions in 2008, compared with 22% of private-industry workers. “I think this shows the economy affects everyone, and it shows the real importance of retirement,” said Amy Mayers, a spokeswoman for the center. “If people with pensions are feeling the economy, it’s even worse for people who don’t have defined benefit pensions.” The survey was conducted April 9-25, and 460 members of Alexandria, Va.-based International Public Management Association for Human Resources and the Lexington, Ky.-based National Association of State Personnel Executives responded to the e-mailed questionnaire.