University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Volume 19 1985 ERISA-The First Decade: Was the Legislation Consistent with Other National Goals? Alicia H. Munnell Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjlr Part of the Legislation Commons, and the Retirement Security Law Commons Recommended Citation Alicia H. Munnell, ERISA-The First Decade: Was the Legislation Consistent with Other National Goals?, 19 U. MICH. J. L. REFORM 51 (1985). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjlr/vol19/iss1/4 This Symposium Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform at University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform by an authorized editor of University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. ERISA-THE FIRST DECADE: WAS THE LEGISLATION CONSISTENT WITH OTHER NATIONAL GOALS? Alicia H. Munnell* Congress enacted the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)' in response to documented failures of the private pension system. Prior to the federal legislation, some employers imposed such stringent vesting and participation standards that many workers reached retirement age only to dis- cover that a layoff, merger, or other break in service made them ineligible for a pension. Even workers who satisfied their plans' participation and vesting requirements had no assurance that accumulated pension fund assets would adequately finance ben- efits. Although employers were expected to fund their plans over periods of ten to forty years, they were not legally required to do so.