Calif. Government Workers' Benefits Up To Three Times Richer Than Those in Private Sector

Study: Calif. public-sector benefits top those in private sector
Adam Weintraub | Associated Press
May 6, 2011

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s state and local government workers make salaries similar to those at large private-sector employers but get significantly higher retirement benefits, a study issued Thursday concluded.
Teachers, however, make far less after retirement than other public employees in the state.
The conclusions were part of a report by consultants hired by the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, a nonprofit involved in research on pension reform.
The group shares roots and some advisers with California Pension Reform, an organization preparing a statewide ballot initiative that seeks to force changes in government pensions.
The study found taxpayers spend roughly three times what large private employers spend per employee for pensions and retiree health benefits. The gap is far smaller for teachers.
State employees earning $60,000 a year build up pension and retirement health benefits at the rate of $19,000 a year, the consultants found, while a worker at a large California company who earns roughly the same amount will garner retirement benefits each year worth $5,720.
A local government worker who starts employment at age 27 with a base salary of $45,000 a year and receives standard raises can retire in 30 years with retirement benefits worth a total of nearly $1.2 million, the consultants reported.
A teacher in similar circumstances would get retirement benefits worth a total of $500,000, and a worker at a large private corporation would get $400,000, the report said.
Read more @ BenefitsPro.