By UC Berkeley Labor CenterNearly half of California workers will retire in or near poverty, shows a new study released by the University of California, Berkeley's Center for Labor Research and Education, "California Workers' Retirement Prospects"
While retirement security is and will be a problem in the whole of the nation, the situation is worse in California, because California workers have less access to employer retirement plans than workers in the United States as a whole, according to the study authors.
They found that retired people across the state rely overwhelmingly on Social Security income, a trend that could worsen as future workers retire without employer-sponsored benefits. Two-thirds of retirees in poverty are women, who are significantly more likely than men to be poor.
Read the entire PDF >>
The legislation that empowered state employees
Workers deserve stronger protection
What is the truth about defined benefit retirement plans? They offer higher benefits at a lower cost; they keep retired people from becoming a public burden; they attract quality workers and they are a real deal for taxpayers.
No, because defined-benefit plans are paid for in advance by each employee.
At a time when more Americans are living longer, raising the retirement age may seem like a good way to strengthen Social Security. 
Employees of state & local government earn an average of 11% and 12% less, respectively, than comparable private sector employees. An analysis spanning two decades shows the pay gap between public and private sector employees has widened in recent years.