Americans are more worried about retirement, and they're getting less help saving for it.
Employers cut their contributions to workers' retirements by a quarter from 2001 to 2015, according to a new report by the consulting firm Willis Towers Watson. The biggest driver: the decline of traditional defined-benefit pensions, which have been replaced by stingier, 401(k)-style, defined-contribution plans.
Retirement benefits—including employer contributions to pensions, 401(k)s and retiree health-care benefits—fell from 9.1% of worker pay in 2001 to 6.8% in 2015. Spending on traditional pensions plunged 76%, to less than 1% of worker pay. Medical benefits for retired workers became increasingly scant, falling from 1.2% of worker pay to just 0.2%.
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