1880s to the early 1900s, Pensions caught on across the United States in churches, banks and railroads. In 1875, American Express Co. established the first employer-paid pension in private business. An exemption from World War II wage controls and then the growth of unions in the 1940s led to expansion of the benefits.

In the United States pensions in various forms have been given to veterans of all wars since the Revolution; military pensions are now covered by the Servicemen's and Veterans' Survivor Benefits Act (1957). Retired servicemen and servicewomen receive, after 20 years of service, 50% of their base pay at time of retirement, with automatic increases as indicated by the Consumer Price Index. Civil-service pensions were developed later in the United States than in W Europe. Old-age pension plans were drawn up by cities for certain groups of public employees?firefighters, police officers, and teachers?which provided for compulsory contributions from the employee. Pensions for federal employees were authorized in 1920.

The idea of extending such protection to all citizens also appeared earlier in Europe (notably in Germany) than in the United States, where it was a 20th-century development.   Many corporations and groups (such as labour unions, professional associations, and colleges) had made provision for pensions before the social security legislation was passed in 1935, and many groups now have pension plans that supplement social security.

Until the 1940s, pension plans in private industry were set up primarily on the initiative of the employer. As workers gained the right to submit pension plans to collective bargaining, the number of people covered in the United States by pensions grew from 4.1 million in 1940 to 65.6 million in 1999, about 44% of all workers. With more than $6.9 trillion in assets in 1997 (up from only $2.4 billion in 1940), these plans exert a major impact on the economy because the money is invested in stocks, bonds, and real estate. At the same time, the financial health of pension plans can be adversely affected by drops in the value of their investments, as happened after the late 1990s stock market bubble burst. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (1974) established regulations to protect pensions from mismanagement and created a federal agency, the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, to insure them.

During the 1990s there was a shift in the type of pension plan that employees were covered by. The number of people covered by defined benefit pension plans levelled off as companies attempted to reduce costs by forcing employees to contribute to their own plans, such as 401(k) plans (defined contribution plans), or by terminating the plans. Under a defined-contribution plan, contributions are made to an account for an individual employee, but no specific income is guaranteed at retirement. In a 401(k) plan, the most common type of defined contribution plan, income that would have been paid to the employee is deposited pre-tax in an account and invested; it may be matched to some degree by a contribution from the employer. Such plans also differ from traditional defined benefit plans in that the contributions are voluntary, and as a result employees are only covered if they choose to contribute to an account. Under a 401(k) plan employees also may be allowed some degree of control over how the contributions are invested.

"Today's cost of tomorrow's Pensions" by R. Tyson published by the US Steel Corporation, (HD7/441)

1930  "The social philosophy of Pensions" by H.S. Pritchett in 1930 (HD7/135).

1951 The Acton Society Trust published "The miners' pension" (HD7/B114).