They were expanded greatly, and began to be offered by a number of state and local governments during the early Progressive Era in the late nineteenth century.
Federal civilian pensions were offered under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), formed in 1920.
There were 856,677 receiving military pensions, the remainder carrying their longevity into federal civil service positions.
Over the following decade, funding levels improved over 2009’s all-time low, until the Covid-19 pandemic ushered in an era of unprecedented market volatility.
In 2022, market corrections resulted in the largest single-year decline since 2009, bringing the aggregate funded ratio to 77.8%.
State Pension plans account for approximately 88% of all unfunded liabilities of non-federal retirement systems.
Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey are significantly burdened by the funding shortfalls facing their retirement systems.
Nebraska, Utah, New York and Idaho’s unfunded liabilities are equivalent to less than 1% of their respective GDPs, meaning their pension funds are well-managed and do not significantly tax their economic resources.
Locally-managed public pension plans account for approximately 12% of all unfunded liabilities of non-federal retirement systems.
[18] In another study, Equable Institute found that the total lifetime value of teacher pension benefits have declined by $100,000 on average (13%) since 2005.