The Evolving Pension System : Trends, Effects, and Proposals for Reform

Labor Day 1999 marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the passage of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the landmark legislation that enacted sweeping reforms in the nature and structure of the private pension system. Since 1974, the taxation and regulation of pensions have been further revised on numerous occasions. The impacts of existing policy and the appropriate direction of future pension policy have become controversial issues, especially in light of the aging baby boom generation, the need for Social Security reform, and the static rate of pension coverage.This volume examines the foundations and the future of the private pension system. It seeks to provide a comprehensive view of the underlying assumptions, characteristics, and effects of existing pension policy, as well as alternative views on how public policy toward pensions should evolve in the future.