Welcome to the latest edition of This Week in Pensions! We have gathered the best stories about pensions and retirement security from the previous week. This is the news you need to know in the fight for a secure retirement.
NPPC News
By the first week in September, many schools across the nation have welcomed back students, teachers, and support staff for the school year. However, due to budget shortfalls, ideological upheaval, and the ongoing–and growing–threat of gun violence in schools, educators have to shoulder more stress than ever. Read about why public school employees need our support and advocacy in our newest blog, Supporting the Educators Who Support Our Students.
New Report from NIRS Debunks Job-Hopping Myths
The National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) released a new report this week, discrediting misinformation about today’s younger workers commonly cited by pension opponents. Debunking the Job-Hopping Myth: A Data-Driven Look at Tenure and Turnover Among Younger Workers addresses the narrative that today’s younger generations switch careers more frequently than previous generations–and finds that myth just isn’t true.
Using thirty years of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and additional independent research, researchers were able to compare patterns in employee turnover across several generations. With this information, they were able to draw the following conclusions:
- – Job tenure is nearly identical across generations. Millennials and Gen Z, between the ages of 25 and 34, had a median job tenure of 2.7 years. The median tenure of Baby Boomers was only 3 years at the same age in 1983.
- – Economic conditions are the main driver of worker turnover. The 2008 Great Recession and the 2020 pandemic affected quit rates greatly, showing that turnover tends to rise during strong economies and fall during recessions.
- – Employees with public sector benefits, such as pensions, have lower quit rates. State and local government employees have more access to pensions and healthcare benefits. Retention rates are significantly higher when employees are offered defined benefits.
Pension opponents have long argued that Millennials and Gen Z are uninterested in pensions because they have little to no interest in long-term job commitments required to fully vest in the pension system, often claiming that a 401(k) will provide the portability that younger generations demand. However, this new research suggests that while retirement benefits have deteriorated over the last 30 years, workers’ desire to stay in a long-term career that will provide lifetime security has remained the same.
Public Pension Funds Exceed Their Target Returns for the Third Consecutive Year
Investment consulting firm Callan announced this week that U.S. public pension funds reported a median investment return of 11.3% for the fiscal year ended June 30–marking the third year in a row that returns have exceeded their average assumed rate of return of 7.0%.
Public defined benefit pension plans enjoyed robust performance in FY 2025, with returns substantially above assumptions and benchmarks across the board. Equities—particularly foreign equities—drove market gains, while fixed income and real estate also made positive contributions. Smaller plans notably led the way in annual returns, although long-term performance over the past decade remained largely consistent across all system sizes.
This news is in direct contrast to a report released earlier this summer by pension opponents at the Reason Foundation, which claimed that over 99% of public pensions failed to meet their assumed rate of investment returns between 2001 and 2023. The “research” done by Reason uses cherry-picked information on systems that fit their narrative, as opposed to Callan’s comprehensive inclusion of over 109 institutional investors. Yet another reason not to trust the Reason Foundation.
Be sure to check back next Friday for the latest news in the fight for a secure retirement! For now, sign up for NPPC News Clips to receive daily pension news from across the country directly to your inbox.