Like most other state and local government employees, teachers participate primarily in defined benefit pension plans whose benefits are based on final average salaries and length of service. Such pensions have been replaced in many private sector firms by defined contribution pensions. A number of questions have arisen about the feasibility and…

Policy discussions about teacher quality and teacher "shortages" often focus on recruitment and retention of young teachers. However, attention has begun to focus on the incentive effects of teacher retirement benefit systems, particularly given their rising costs and the large unfunded liabilities. In this paper we analyze accrual of…

This Technical Committee Report examines four tiers of retirement income: (1) social security; (2) private and public occupational pension programs; (3) income from assets and savings; and (4) needs-tested programs. A summary of principal findings and recommendations is followed by three sections discussing the statistical basis for this report.…

Texarkana (Texas) Community College and Texarkana Independent School District left the federal Social Security System (SSS) and reallocated SSS funds to a self-administered fringe benefit program, while also returning employees' SSS contributions to them intact. Several safeguards for Texas employees were already in place through the Texas Teacher…

In this paper I will illustrate how to extend the capabilities of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets with add-ins created by MATLAB. Excel provides a broad array of fundamental tools but often comes up short when more sophisticated scenarios are involved. To overcome this short-coming of Excel while retaining its ease of use, I will describe how…

Recent trends toward earlier retirement have exacerbated the financial problems facing the Social Security system and many other public and private pension plans. The massive commitment of public and private funds to Social Security and pension funds is partly responsible for the trend to early retirement. This, in fact, was one of the early goals…

Papers included are as follows: "An Overview" (Ross); "The Outlook for Social Security in the Wake of the 1983 Amendments" (Munnell); "The Economics of Aging: Doomsday or Shangrila?" (Schulz); "Retirement Incentives--the Carrot and the Stick. (Why No One Works beyond 65 Anymore)" (Quinn); "Inflation and…

This Technical Committee Report on Employment begins with a discussion of trends in work and retirement, examines attitudes toward work and retirement, and describes the economic and social consequences of work. An analysis of the present situation focuses on: (1) employment barriers and opportunities; (2) cost of employment; (3) productivity and…

Background material on the American Association of University Professors' (AAUP's) annual survey of faculty salary data is summarized. It is pointed out that in 1976, AAUP decided to depend on the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for data collection because both organizations had worked closely for many years, it eliminated…

A model for examining the two basic approaches of encouraging later retirement is presented in which the coercive approach relies primarily on negative incentives such as benefit reductions, and the voluntary approach encourages continued employment through positive incentives and increased employment opportunities. The degree to which these…

As increasing numbers of women make the transition from the household sector into the labor market, dramatic changes in household composition have occurred that have thrust many women into the role of provider. This new role for women has led to dramatic and rapid changes in attitudes, as well as in the institutions and laws relating to women's…