Introduction
Employee benefit is a form of non-wage compensation to the employees in addition to their regular wages or salaries. The sole purpose of employee benefits is to improve the economic security of the employees and in turn increase worker retention ratios in an organization. It is a component of reward management. Employee benefits vary across regions and economic sectors in terms of legal enforcement to the right of benefits, taxation, contribution patterns among others. Retirement Benefits Every industry that employs its staff on a permanent basis is obligated to provide the retirement benefits. It usually features as a joint contribution effort between the employer and employee in an agreed ratio (Watson & McNaughton, 2007). Employer-employee based contributions are more prevalent in the private sectors, and this is so because in these sectors the beneficiaries are not required to contribute to these plans as is the case in public sectors has led to the growth in the retirement-income inequality. Higher income workers are as such more probable to participate in defined-contribution plans because they also have more disposable income and a relatively higher investment-risk tolerance. They also receive huge tax breaks due to the taxation modalities in operation (Watson & McNaughton, 2007). Education, sex and marital status also contribute to disparities in the level of retirement benefits accruing to an individual. Educated persons tend to save more during their early lives as compared to the under or uneducated which also applies to a married person as they seek to secure their futures and those of their families (Watson & McNaughton, 2007). The retirement savings gap that exists between men and women has narrowed with time although it remains large, this can be attributed to the massive gender equity campaigns that aim to give equal chances to all sex. Conclusion Retirement benefits do not lie proportional despite efforts to align major social and economic sectors that have for so long been unequal.
References
Watson, J., & McNaughton, M. (2007). Gender differences in risk aversion and expected retirement benefits. Financial Analysts Journal, 52-62.
Hutchens, R. (1999). Social security benefits and employer behavior: evaluating social security early retirement benefits as a form of unemployment insurance. International Economic Review, 40(3), 659-678.
http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/benefits/2010/benefits.htm.
