New Analysis Shows Value of Public Pension Benefits Has Dropped by More than $140,000 Nationally since 2006

Equable's Analysis also Finds Only 46.6% of Public Workers Are Being Served Well by Today's Retirement Plans

NEW YORK, Dec. 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Equable Institute released the second edition of its Retirement Security Report, a comprehensive assessment of the retirement income security provided to U.S. state and local government workers. The report evaluates 1,953 retirement plans across the country—including 1,247 legacy plans—to determine how well public employees are being put on a path to secure and adequate retirement income. 

The findings show a challenging landscape: while full-career public workers still tend to receive adequate retirement income, the majority of teachers, public safety officers, and general government employees who leave public service before a full career are not being well served by the retirement plans available to them.

KEY FINDINGS:

• Retirement benefit values have declined significantly: The expected lifetime value of retirement benefits for a typical full-career public employee has dropped by more than $140,000 since 2006, primarily due to policy changes after the Great Recession such as higher retirement ages, longer vesting, and reduced COLAs.
  
  
• Only 46.6% of public workers are being served well by their retirement plans: While 76% of full-career workers are served well by their plans, just 17.2% of short-term workers are served well. In fact, most public workers who do not stay for a full career are unlikely to accumulate meaningful retirement income, regardless of plan type.
  
  
• New plans serve short and medium-term workers better than legacy plans: There are zero "legacy" public retirement plans (those that are closed to new members today) that were serving Short-Term Workers well. Many of the new retirement plans created within the last 10 to 15 years have higher degrees of portability (hybrid plans, primary defined contribution plans, etc.) and higher member contribution rates, which creates a forced savings mechanism that boosts the value of accumulated retirement savings for those who leave without drawing a pension.

While the financial sustainability of public sector retirement systems shouldn't be ignored, the Retirement Security Report is focused on the value those retirement systems provide as U.S. households navigate serious financial challenges.

"Retirement security can't be separated from the broader affordability crisis facing American households. When the cost of housing, healthcare, childcare, and everyday essentials continues to rise faster than wages, workers rely even more on the promise of stable income in retirement," said Executive Director, Anthony Randazzo.

"This report makes clear that far too many public employees are not actually on a path to financial stability in their later years," noted Jonathan Moody, Equable Institute's Senior Vice-President of Research. "At a moment when millions of Americans are struggling to keep up with the cost of living, ensuring that public workers have reliable and adequate retirement benefits is not just a workforce issue; it's a cornerstone of long-term economic security and affordability in the United States."

To learn more about the Retirement Security Report, explore interactive scorecards for each plan, or download data, visit: RetirementSecurity.Report.

About the Retirement Security Report
The "Retirement Security Report" (RSR) is a comprehensive assessment of the quality of benefits being offered to public sector workers nationwide. This Second Edition of the report updates a June 2021 version, primarily by expanding the universe of plans covered to include municipally managed plans and legacy plans legacy plans (e.g., tiers or classes of benefits that are closed to new members).  With this 2024 update, users can review individual Retirement Benefit Scores for 1,953 retirement plans across state and local retirement systems (including the introduction of 1,247 legacy plans) by visiting RetirementSecurity.Report and searching for plans of interest. To ensure on-going accuracy, the digital landing page is periodically updated as states introduce new plans or modify existing public employee benefits.

About Equable Institute
Equable is a bipartisan non-profit that works with public retirement system stakeholders to solve complex pension funding challenges with data-driven solutions. We exist to support public sector workers in understanding how their retirement systems can be improved, and to help state and local governments find ways to both fix threats to municipal finance stability and ensure the retirement security of all public servants.

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SOURCE Equable Institute