Data Bank Focus: Who Takes Advantage of Retirement Benefits?

Not surprisingly, union employees have greater access to retirement benefits than nonunion employees and take greater advantage of them, with fully 94 percent of union workers who are offered these benefits participating in the programs. Also to be expected, the higher the income, the more likely an employee is to participate in retirement

benefits programs. What is unexpected is that women have a higher participation rate than men when considering their work status—a trend that holds across all income levels, according to an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. It is well-established that women on average earn less than men, yet they seem to be better at saving a portion of what they do earn for the future. In married-couple families, women are likely to be providing a second income, which may contribute to the savings disparity.

Workforce Management, February 2012, p. 16-17

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