High-earning older workers are three times as likely as low-earning older workers to have access to a retirement plan: Share of older workers who have access to and participate in a retirement plan at a current job, by earnings group and age, 2019
| Access rate | Participation rate | |
|---|---|---|
| Top fifth | 82.3% | 79.5% |
| 2nd from top | 80.6% | 73.4% |
| Middle fifth | 75.0% | 63.4% |
| 2nd from bottom | 56.7% | 41.0% |
| Bottom fifth | 27.6% | 18.3% |
| Top fifth | 68.1% | 67.6% |
| 2nd from top | 62.2% | 52.3% |
| Middle fifth | 56.4% | 47.8% |
| 2nd from bottom | 53.6% | 41.7% |
| Bottom fifth | 22.6% | 11.0% |
Notes: Retirement plans include traditional defined benefit pension plans and retirement savings accounts such as 401(k)s.
Retirement plans include traditional defined benefit pension plans and retirement savings accounts such as 401(k)s. The sample includes survey respondents and spouses or domestic partners who are employees or self-employed workers (which would include small business owners). Participants in a plan are workers who answered “yes” to a question about whether they were included in any “pension, retirement, or tax-deferred savings plans” connected with their job (not including IRA or Keogh plans) and workers whose spouse or partner answered “yes” for them. Workers with access to a plan are workers who answered “yes” to questions about whether their employer offered any such plans and whether they were eligible to be included in any of those plans and workers whose spouse or partner answered “yes” for them.
Source: Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA) analysis of Survey of Consumer Finances 2019 microdata (Federal Reserve 2022a).