Contingent workers—those who provide services on a short-term or temporary basis—are much less likely than traditional workers to have a retirement plan at work, according to data released recently by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

According to the bureau, 23.4 percent of contingent workers were eligible for—or had access to—employer-sponsored pension or retirement plans in 2017. This is about half the rate for more permanent or traditional workers, among whom 47.6 percent were eligible for an employer-sponsored plan. The BLS defines contingent workers as those “who do not have an implicit or explicit contract for ongoing employment.” Those who do not expect to continue in their jobs for personal reasons—for example, because they plan to return to school or retire—are not counted.

BLS and the Census Bureau last fielded the Contingent Worker Supplement to the Current Population Survey in 2005. Analysts and policymakers had been anticipating updated data.

The results show slight declines in various kinds of contingent work since the 2005 survey. BLS reported that 1.3 to 3.8 percent of working Americans did contingent work, depending on the definition, while 10.1 percent were in what the bureau calls alternative work arrangements as their main job in 2017.

Read more pewtrusts