For more information on pensions, read our report, Promises with a Price and see the national and state fact sheets. You may also view the accompanying press release.
For many Americans, post-retirement benefits—principally pensions and health care—for state government employees is an obscure topic. But because of how they can affect state budgets, these benefits have become an issue of critical importance.
Research by The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Center on the States shows states’ retiree pensions and other benefits represent a bill coming due over the next few decades that can be conservatively estimated at $2.73 trillion. That includes about $2.35 trillion for a wide range of employee pensions, including those for teachers, and an additional $381 billion for retiree health care and other non-pension benefits for state employees only, excluding those for teachers and a handful of other groups.
States’ fiscal health depends greatly on policy makers’ ability to wisely manage their bills coming due—and the center is tracking their efforts across a range of issues.
Apr 30, 2008 - The Pew Center on the States examines the rising cost of public-sector retirement benefits.
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Dec 18, 2007 - This groundbreaking report, Promises with a Price, provides first-of-its-kind data about the long-term costs of public sector benefits. It highlights which states are prepared to pay the significant bill coming due, which are not, and why it matters to state lawmakers and citizens alike.
Read: Summary View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)
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