7. Pension Benefits

U.S. Defined Contribution Pension Plan - The Company has a defined contribution plan qualified under Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code, pursuant to which substantially all of its U.S. employees are eligible to participate after completing six months of service. Participants may elect to contribute a portion of their compensation to the plan. Under the plan, the Company has the discretion to match a portion of participants’ contributions. For the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, the Company did not make any matching contributions.

Non-U.S. Pension Benefits - The accounting standard for pensions requires an employer to recognize a net liability or asset and an offsetting adjustment to accumulated other comprehensive loss to report the funded status of defined benefit pension and other post-retirement benefit plans.

Most of the non-U.S. subsidiaries provide for government-mandated defined pension benefits. For certain of these subsidiaries, vested eligible employees are provided a lump sum payment upon retiring from the Company at a defined age. The lump sum amount is based on the salary and tenure as of retirement date. Other non-U.S. subsidiaries provide for a lump sum payment to vested employees on retirement, death, incapacitation or termination of employment, based upon the salary and tenure as of the date employment ceases. The liability for such defined benefit obligations is determined and provided on the basis of actuarial valuations. As of December 31, 2019, these plans were unfunded. Pension expense for foreign subsidiaries totaled approximately $0.3 million and $0.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Included in the $0.7 million pension expense for the year ended 2018 is $269,000 representing the correction of an understatement of pension liabilities from prior years.

The following table summarizes the amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of taxes (in thousands):


	Years Ended December 31,
	2019		2018

Amortization of transition obligation	$	41	$	41
Actuarial gain (loss)		(1,910)		416
Totals	$	(1,869)	$	457
Amounts in accumulated other comprehensive loss not yet reflected in net periodic pension cost, net of taxes:
Actuarial gain (loss)	$	(163)	$	1,747
Transition obligation		(50)		(91)
Totals	$	(213)	$	1,656
Amounts in accumulated other comprehensive loss expected to be amortized in 2020 net periodic pension cost, net of taxes:
Actuarial gain	$	1
Transition obligation		38
Total	$	39

The following table sets out the status of the non-U.S. pension benefits and the amounts (in thousands) recognized in the Company’s consolidated financial statements as of and for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2019:

Benefit Obligations:


	2019		2018

Projected benefit obligation at beginning of the year	$	2,591	$	3,121
Service cost		289		344
Interest cost		194		198
Actuarial loss (gain)		1,720		(622)
Foreign currency exchange rates changes		52		(237)
Benefits paid		(235)		(213)
Projected benefit obligation at end of the year	$	4,611	$	2,591

Components of Net Periodic Pension Cost:


	2019		2018

Service cost	$	289	$	344
Interest cost		194		198
Past service cost		—		34
Actuarial gain recognized		(148)		133
Net periodic pension cost	$	335	$	709

The accumulated benefit obligation, which represents benefits earned to date, was approximately $2.9 million and $1.7 million as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Amounts recognized in the consolidated balance sheets for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 consisted of the following (in thousands):


		2019		2018

Current accrued benefit cost	$	570	$	320
Non-current accrued benefit cost		4,041		2,271
Net amount recognized	$	4,611	$	2,591

Current accrued benefit cost for pension benefits was included in the current portion of long-term obligations in the consolidated balance sheets. Non-current accrued benefit cost for pension benefits was included in long-term obligations, net of current portion, in the consolidated balance sheets.

Actuarial assumptions for all non-U.S. plans are described below. The discount rates are used to measure the year end benefit obligations and the earnings effects for the subsequent year. The assumptions for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2019 were as follows:


	2019	2018

Discount rate	4.85%‑10.42%	7.25%‑12.17%
Rate of increase in compensation level	5%‑7%	5%‑7%

Estimated Future Benefit Payments:

As of December 31, 2019, the following benefit payments, which reflect expected future service, as appropriate, were expected to be paid (in thousands):


Years Ending December 31,		Amount

2020	$	578
2021		329
2022		159
2023		156
2024		217
2025 to 2029		2,665
	$	4,104