The origins of the public employee pension problem are traced to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when most big cities began pensions for their public employees. Problems emerged in the 20th century when the uniformed forces grew, ages of recruits were lowered, and life expectancies rose. Pension rolls have not only increased, they have rolls have not only increased, they have surpassed the active rolls. In addition, firemen's and policemen's pension systems have incurred massive deficits. Some reasons for these deficits are considered; one reason is that some systems have not operated on a reserve basis long enough to build up sufficient assets to make much of a dent in the liabilities. The politics of pension reform are considered, as are legal constraints on reform. Some of the ways that reformers have managed to change big-city firemen's and policemen's pension plans are described; for example, reformers prevailed upon the authorities to put the pension plans on a contributory authorities to put the pension plans on a contributory basis, so that by the 1970's most firemen and policemen were contributing 5-9 percent of their salaries to their pension funds. Ways are suggested to lower firemen's and policemen's pension costs, such as integrating their pensions with Social Security, giving them a fixed pension, and having them retire later. Approximately 300 references are supplied.