Retirement Plans

Our United Kingdom subsidiary has a defined benefit pension plan covering all eligible employees (the “UK Plan”); however, no individual joining the company after October 31, 2001 may participate in the UK Plan. On May 31, 2010, we curtailed the future accrual of benefits for active employees under such plan. We also sponsor three domestic retirement plans in which participation by new individuals is frozen.

Components of Net Periodic Pension Cost

The components of net periodic pension cost of the UK Plan for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017 were as follows (in thousands):



	For the three months ended June 30,						For the six months ended June 30,
	2018			2017			2018			2017
Interest cost	$	2,045		$	2,124		$	4,144		$	4,169
Expected return on plan assets	(3,490		)	(3,327		)	(7,071		)	(6,531		)
Amortization of unrecognized loss	665			724			1,347			1,422
Net periodic pension cost (income)	$	(780	)	$	(479	)	$	(1,580	)	$	(940	)

The net periodic pension cost associated with the domestic plans was approximately $0.1 million for each of the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017.

Employer Contributions

For the six months ended June 30, 2018, our United Kingdom subsidiary contributed approximately $2.2 million to the UK Plan and anticipates contributing an additional $2.5 million during the remainder of 2018. Contributions to the domestic plans were approximately $0.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018.