Employer Provided Pension Data in the NLS Mature Women's Survey and in the Health and Retirement Study

TitleEmployer Provided Pension Data in the NLS Mature Women's Survey and in the Health and Retirement Study
Publication TypeReport
Year of Publication1999
AuthorsGustman, AL, Steinmeier, TL
InstitutionNational Bureau of Economics Research
KeywordsConsumption and Savings, Employment and Labor Force, Income, Methodology, Net Worth and Assets, Pensions, Retirement Planning and Satisfaction
Abstract

We compute pension wealth from employer provided pension plan descriptions matched to respondent surveys to the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women (NLS-MW) and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). These calculations provide detailed information on the level and distribution of pension wealth and a variety of incentives from pensions. Differences between the pensions of men and women are largely explained by differences in earnings. However, there also are differences in the shapes of the pension accrual profiles of defined benefit plans that are likely to reflect tenure of women. Pension coverage is lower in the NLS-MW than in the HRS. As a result, wealth is lower in the NLS-MW than in the HRS. But the difference in coverage is not due to the effects of pension matching. Pension values for covered respondents are similar between the NLS-MW and HRS surveys. Systematic differences between the surveys in the rate at which pensions were matched do not have a major effect on findings as to the levels and distributions of pension wealth between the surveys.

Endnote Keywords

Personal Income and Wealth Distribution/Economics of the Elderly/Economics of Gender/Retirement/Retirement Policies/Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits/Private Pensions/Pension Wealth/Pension

Endnote ID

1134

Citation Key5381