There is some risk in publishing data in this form. The average pension for a woman in Plymouth County is $9,987 while for a man it is $20,200. This could give fuel to the argument that women are underpaid.

However, there are several legitimate reasons for this discrepancy. Almost all of the cafeteria workers in the schools are women who work shorter hours and, therefore, earn less. Survivors are also included in the retiree data. Most survivors are widows collecting survivors allowances in various categories that by statute are unfairly low. But pension laws are set by the Legislature, not Plymouth County. And then we have the many clerical workers who for the most part are women. These jobs do not pay as much as public safety workers such as police, firefighters and correction officers or, for that matter, DPW workers.
There is no discrimination argument. A women working in public safety receives the same pay as her male counterpart and a man doing clerical work receives the same pay as his female counterpart. Teachers are not included in this data. They are members of the Teachers’ Retirement System.

The chart for disability pensions shows a closer correlation. The average for a women is $18,285 and $24,639 for a man.

An accidental disability retiree receives a 72% pension plus an annuity, the total of which cannot exceed 75%. There is also a provision for an ordinary disability pension (not job related). For a veteran with ten or more years service it is 50% of salary. For a non-veteran the statute is very weak and needs improvement. A person under age 55 is calculated on an age 55 basis. For a Group 1 worker with 10 years service the pension would only be 15% of their salary.

“I believe if you did a gender breakdown of pensions, I think you would find a similar male-female difference in most retirement systems with the exception of the Teachers’ System,” says Association President Ralph White.

“Salaries are a huge factor in determining pensions, and we as an organization can’t do anything about salaries. Some would argue that men have a greater opportunity to work at jobs that pay higher salaries. Again, if true, this is a social issue. Perhaps we’re stirring the pot in deviating from the norm by publishing  a board’s pension breakdown by gender. But, as our members know, we’ve never been afraid of stirring the pot a little.”