Ezra Klein: Public Employees Don't Make More Than Private Employees

[flpoljunkie]

Public employees don't make more than private employees

There seems to be a lot of jealousy toward public employees out there, most of it powered by an impression that public employees get more money for less work. But via Kevin Drum comes this table from the Economic Policy Institute, which suggests that this just isn't true:



The data (pdf) come from Rutgers's Jeffrey Keefe, and he also ran "a separate calculation that controls for full-time status, education level, years of experience, age, gender, race, employer organizational size, industry, and hours worked," which found that "public employees are compensated 2-7% less than equivalent private sector employees."

Which makes sense: You never hear public employees say that they went into government for the money. But to make the more counterintuitive point, this is a fairly counterproductive conversation. We want really good regulators watching Wall Street. We want talented people teaching our children. We want our trash picked up by workers who want to keep their job and we want the DMV staffed by individuals who aren't incompetent. That isn't to say we should pay every public worker millions and millions of dollars, but very few go into government work because they're of a charitable bent. It's a job, like any other, and it attracts talent only by paying it well.

By Ezra Klein
September 16, 2010

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/09/public_employees_dont_make_mor.html

[bigdarryl]

1. Both of my brothers make more than I do in the private sector

and I'm talking about six figures and I'm no where near that

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. All the people who complained about public employees were Republicans.

Then they became public employees and are part of the graft or see it and go along with it to make it into their pension years.

[kirby]

3. They have Job security though...

which means less risk for them and can translate to a lower pay.

[SheilaT]

4. They do tend to have

very good job security, benefits, vacation and holiday time and sick leave, and good pensions. Yes, they do give up some income for those things.

[quaker bill]

5. I gave up

20% of my private sector salary to work in the public sector. 17 years later, when times are good, I could still be making 25%+ more salary on the private side. Of course, right now, I would be lucky to still be employed in the private sector. There have even been layoffs for public sector employees. So far, I am still working, and our budget has hit the forecast bottom.

While it is true that I have given up 20 to 25 percent, 16.5 percent on top of my salary is contributed to a fixed benefit pension. So with the pension, I am only 5 to 10 percent behind my private sector counterparts, and I have a pension, at least for now....

[DCBob]

6. Most in the private sector cannot retire with pensions at 55.

Also private sector employess are subject to pressures of making profit and keeping from getting fired/laid off. There is no comparison.

[county worker]

7. You can't retire at 55 in the public sector and live well unless you worked a long time.

It is a myth that we all retire at 55 with pensions. The amount you get is dependent on how long you worked and what your last salary was. To retire at 55 and live on your pension you would have had to start in your 20's. Very few people ever do that.

[DCBob]

8. I know quite a few that have.. I know no one in the private sector that can do that.

Public sector employee pensions are a huge benefit that the vast majority in the private sector do not have.

[county worker]

9. They don't have them because they lost their unions.

Most workers in major companies had defined benefit plans until the conservative revolution.

How many do you know and how does that compare with all the retired public sector workers in your area. I doubt it is a large percentage.

The idea that we have something you don't have is the idea that all of us should race to the bottom. Why not work for better standards for everyone rather than take away what someone else has?

The Employee Free Choice act is a step in the right direction. Tax policies that help companies who help their workers is also a step in the right direction.

[DCBob]

10. I am not saying take these pension benefits away.. I wish we all had them..

but the op is misleading without noting the vast difference between public and private sector pension benefits.

[quaker bill]

13. Get this

The loss of salary in my job working public is not made up by the pension. Even if you throw the 16.5% my employer contributes to the pension on top of my salary, I still come up short of the private sector, the table above indicates most of us college educated types come up short even with the pension.

What I get for fewer total dollars (salary + all benefits) is a call for far less uncompensated overtime, so I get to see my family more often, and my dogs do not treat me like a stranger. It is worth it.

[quaker bill]

11. 30 years is standard

for public and private pensions, to the extent that private pensions still exist. Start at 25, retire at 55. The problem is that very few people stick at a single job, public or private, for 30 years anymore. Better yet the substitution of the lovely 401K for a pension has been a total bust. Folks my age who are dependent on a 401K doing the trick, will be lucky to ever retire.

I am 55 and a public employee, and nowhere near retirement. I will hit 30 years of service at 68. I expect to retire before 68, but will have a reduced benefit.

[DCBob]

12. That a nice option to have.. most in private sector dont have that..

The 401k plan is not working. Very few will be able to retire on their 401k savings. Most will just work until they die.. if they are fortunate enough to have a job.

[quaker bill]

14. But they should

The funny thing is that pensions really don't cost that much in the larger scheme of things. The problem comes when you raid the pension fund for a leveraged buyout. When this happens, all of a sudden the pensions are "underfunded". They were never "underfunded" until the money was stolen by Wall Street manipulators. This is another thing we can thank Reagan for.

[DCBob]

15. "Should" may be correct but that doesnt change reality.

Enjoy your retirement. congrats.