Population Aging and State Pensions in New England
This Research Report analyzes the features of the New England state pension plans in the context of the region's changing demographic environment. The first section of the report documents key demographic developments: the aging of the Baby Boom generation and increasing life expectancies. Key features of the primary state pension plan in each New England state are then compared, focusing in particular on the age-specific characteristics of the plans. A third section analyzes the labor market implications of the plans' formulas, such as how they apply to workers choosing retirement at different ages. The fourth focuses on recently enacted reforms in New England states and alternative approaches to reform. An appendix provides a more detailed state-by-state mapping of benefit accrual patterns in the plans, based on illustrative employees hired at different ages.
Resources
Forums
This June 2010 forum featured the research report profiled above. Author Richard Woodbury, former Center Visiting Scholar and economist with the National Bureau of Economic Research, described the pension plans currently offered to state employees in the New England states, and how the plan provisions vary across states. He also introduced some approaches to pension reform. Panelists discussed the fiscal imperative for—and challenges to—implementing state pension reform and describe tools to promote effective reform, as well as potential consequences.
Employing the Region’s Assets: Baby Boomers Meeting New England’s Skilled Workforce Needs
This December 2008 forum explored the role that older professionals can play in meeting the region’s labor force needs over the next 20 to 30 years. The conference featured presentations that investigated the changing demographic and labor force trends in New England and the US and examined what employers, employees, and the public sector could do to lengthen the labor force participation of the population age 55 and older.
Related Research
Employing the Region's Assets: Baby Boomers Meeting New England's Skilled Workforce Needs
by Heather Brome, senior policy analyst and Sandra Hackman, editor
NEPPC Conference Report 08-1
To review other Center research about regional labor market trends and demographics and state and local public finance issues, please visit our research index.