Some Implications of The Changing Structure of Work For Worker Retirement Security, Pensions and Healthcare Literature Review

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Release Date: March 01, 2016

Some Implications of The Changing Structure of Work For Worker Retirement Security, Pensions and Healthcare Literature Review

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About the Literature Review

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The employer-based system of providing retirement and health benefits is failing too many Americans, including disproportionate numbers of the poorer and more vulnerable members of society. The largely incremental changes made over the last 30 years have not solved the basic problems of access, coverage and adequacy. Accordingly, the researcher who developed the literature review suggests that it is time for a more radical approach. One approach would be to redefine the terms “employer” and “employee” to capture the realities of the 21st century workplace. However, any redefinition would be susceptible to the development of new workplace relationships that work around the redefinitions. Accordingly, the more promising approach is to provide a system in which entitlement to some level of retirement and health benefits is independent of employment or employment history, with employers remaining free to offer supplementary benefits to attract and retain talented employees.

Research Gaps

  • This paper does not discuss public sector retirement plans or multiemployer, collectively bargained plans as, in each case, the issues are complex and an adequate discussion would take more time and space than I have available. Suffice it to say that the funding issues surrounding public sector plans, though significant, have generally been overstated. The funding problems involving multiemployer plans have proved intractable and there is little cause for optimism that this will improve significantly in the near future. (page 6)

Citation

Pratt, D. A. (2015). Some Implications of the Changing Structure of Work for Worker Retirement Security, Pensions and Healthcare. Symposium on the Future of Work, Washington, D.C. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

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The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.