Her current research focuses on the retirement crisis facing California and the US in the context of declining pension coverage, and policies to improve the retirement income prospects of low- and middle- wage workers.
But the market is leery about Northrop's and Raytheon's declining pension plan income, which they used to bolster their earnings in the go-go 1990s.
Sullivan points out that in the 1980s it was hoped private pensions would fill the gap left by declining state pensions.
That could serve as a warning for the United States, where workers' 401 k)'s have been ravaged by declining stocks, pensions are disappearing, and the long-term solvency of the Social Security system is in question.
With corporate pensions declining dramatically in number, achieving a decent retirement income is now increasingly dependent on individuals saving during their working career.
In an era of disappearing pensions, declining home values and high unemployment, we ought to build on Social Security, not take it apart.
But a lot of Tea Party rank and file -- those with underwater homes, declining wages, disappearing pensions, and rising grocery and gas prices -- are feeling pretty desperate economically.
Now that western economies have stagnated, household incomes have declined and pension pots are dwindling, the argument doesn't look quite so clever.
After more than a decade of declining private sector pension coverage, 6.3 million Californians do not have access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, according to a new study released today (Thursday, June 7) by the University of California, Berkeley's Center for Labor Research and Education.
Northrop Grumman Corp.'s second-quarter profit fell 35%, though sales almost doubled with the acquisition of shipbuilder Litton Industries Inc., because of declining returns from pension-fund investing.
