Vesting of private pension benefits in 1979 and change from 1972

This article examines the prevalence of vested private pension benefits in 1979 as reported by full-time private wage and salary workers actively participating in pension plans. It also analyzes the effect of selected demographic, economic, labor-force, and plan characteristics on vested status. Years of participation in a plan was by far the most important predictor of vested status. Age was positively related to vested status even after accounting for the longer plan participation of older workers. Evidence pertaining to occupation, size of firm, and type of employer plan suggests that multi-employer plans and those covering professional and managerial workers and the employees of the smallest firms have more rapid vesting schedules than plans covering other workers. Sex, race, union representation, and earnings had little meaningful effect on vested status. This article also examines change in the prevalence of vesting after passage of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by comparing reported vested rates for 1972 and 1979. The proportion of plan participants reporting vested benefits rose substantially during this period, a finding suggestive of ERISA's substantial impact. The magnitude of the change is examined by years of service with employer, age, sex, earnings, occupation, and industry.