Why aren't teacher salaries rising? This puzzle can be explained by three trends eating into teachers' take-home pay: rising health care costs, declining student/teacher ratios, and rising retirement costs. Retirement costs are the most hidden of these three factors. The result is that most teachers are getting the worst of both worlds. Teachers…

Purpose: This study examines sex differences among Baby Boom workers in the likelihood of coverage by an employer-provided retirement plan. Design and Methods: This study used a sample of Baby Boom workers drawn from the 2009 Current Population Survey. Independent variables were selected to replicate as closely as possible those in two 1995…

State-specific licensing policies and pension plans create mobility costs for educators who cross state lines. We empirically test whether these costs affect production in schools--a hypothesis that follows directly from economic theory on labor frictions--using geo-coded data from the lower-48 states. We find that achievement is lower in…

The 2016 AASA Superintendent Salary & Benefits Study marks the fifth edition of this study. This survey tracks the demographics, salary, benefits, and other elements of the employment contracts of school superintendents throughout the country. This year's study is based on 1,392 responses (15 percent response rate). The survey was distributed…

The concept and the process of retirement are rapidly evolving. As a result, psychologists are in a unique position to understand and explain the dynamics behind the changing face of retirement. We begin this article with a brief overview of the history of retirement and then note the various definitions used when studying retirement. We then…

Like most other state and local government employees, teachers participate primarily in defined benefit pension plans whose benefits are largely 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…

We offer a concise history of teacher retirement plans in the United States, highlighting the increase in the generosity of the plans over the past 25 years. We employ data from plans in all fifty states to estimate the impact of a set of social and economic variables on the plans' replacement rates for a hypothetical teacher. We find that, at the…

"Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2013" contains the Budget Message of the President, information on the President's priorities, budget overviews organized by agency, and summary tables. The 2013 Budget contains a number of steps to put the country on a fiscally sustainable path. First, this Budget implements the tight…

When he was still President Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, now mayor-elect of Chicago, famously quipped: "Never allow a crisis to go to waste." Republican governors in Wisconsin, New Jersey, Ohio, and other states have certainly taken that advice to heart. By emphasizing, and in some cases manipulating, the red ink flowing through…

China's oldest old population is estimated to quadruple by 2050. Yet, poverty rate for the oldest old has been the highest among all age groups in China. This paper investigates the relationship between economic stress, quality of life, and mortality among the oldest-old in China. Both objective economic hardships and perceived economic strain are…

Analysis and discussion of Social Security policy are usually based on expected fiscal and societal outcomes. However, future demographic and economic trends are uncertain, and thus ultimate outcomes for aggregate system financial flows and the distribution of taxes and benefits across generations are uncertain. This paper analyzes a…

Russian science is experiencing processes of personnel aging and stagnation, which are disrupting the continuity of the generations and are limiting prospective workers' opportunities for professional and career growth. The decline in the prestige of science work, the exodus of specialists into other, more attractive segments of economic activity…

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…

In response to a journalist inquiry regarding research on funding of Ohio's teacher retirement system and its effect on school district finances, this analysis by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute points to serious questions and profound concerns about the health of Ohio's teacher pension system, and that similar time bombs may be ticking in other…

The circumstances arising out of Japanese pension plan practices are described. Recommendations are given. Appropriate preretirement education is recommended to assist Japanese workers who have long accepted the compulsory retirement system in planning for the future. (Author/CT)