US. As Pension Funding Levels Fell in 2022, Higher Contributions Helped States Manage Debt
From fiscal year 2021 to 2022, the reported funding gap for state pension plans—the disparity between promised benefits and available assets—jumped by $439 billion to $1.27 trillion. The increase, largely fueled by investment losses, highlights how volatile financial markets continue to expose state and local governments to risk. Yet, despite poor investment returns, in 2022, 49 states still contributed enough to their pension plans to meet a key target, the net amortization benchmark, which measures whether employers’ payments are sufficient...
