Catherwood LibraryILR School

Britain's Association of Consulting Actuaries (ACA) yesterday revealed that almost 75 percent of the country's employer-run final salary pension plans are shutting their doors to new members, and some even to continuing contributions from workers already enrolled in the plans. This wholesale abandonment of traditional guaranteed-benefit pension plans in which employers bear the financial risk and workers are assured lifetime benefits based on length of employment with a company is a growing problem not only in Britain but around the world (see WIT's for March 12, 5, and 3, Feb. 19, 18, and 4, and Jan. 13, 2003, Dec. 10, Nov. 25, and Sep. 16, 2002). The troubling figure cited by the ACA on final salary pensions is based on a survey of over 300 companies employing close to 2 million employees in total, which also revealed that over 10 percent of companies are completely shutting down at least one of their pension plans.