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Pension reform in Sweden
- Author:
- STAHLBERG A-C.
- Journal article citation:
- Scandinavian Journal of Social Welfare, 4(4), October 1995, pp.267-273.
- Publisher:
- Munksgaard/ Blackwell
Pension reform has been placed on the political agenda in many countries. The Swedish parliament has decided to make significant changes in the pension system. This article presents the Swedish pension reform, which goes further than the changes in other European countries. According to the reforms, there will be a guaranteed pension that redistributes life-cycle incomes from rich to poor and an income-related actuarial pension without any intra- and intergenerational redistributive effects (with a few exceptions). The idea is to have an actuarial contribution-defined pension within a pay-as-you-go system.
The pensions dilemma
- Author:
- JOHNSON Paul
- Publisher:
- Institute for Public Policy Research
- Publication year:
- 1994
- Pagination:
- 31p.,bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- London
Chapter 1 explains the recent history and current system of pension provision; chapter 2 describes the problems which have led to recent debate; chapter 3 looks at the economics of pension provision; and chapters 4, 5 and 6 outline proposals for reform.
Sustainability and adequacy of pensions in EU countries: a cross-national perspective
- Author:
- ZAIDI Asghar
- Publisher:
- European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research
- Publication year:
- 2010
- Pagination:
- 17p.
- Place of publication:
- Vienna
The impact of European Union (EU) national government economic and social policies on pension systems and pension income adequacy for future pensioners is examined in this paper. It begins by setting the context, highlighting sustainability challenges arising from population ageing and the financial, fiscal and economic crises. It analyses the impact of pension reforms, including benefit ratio changes (the likely development of the relative value of the average pension relative to the likely evolution of the average wage). It discusses how pension reforms have reshaped the structure of pension systems across EU countries and the adequacy of pension incomes of future retirees (including expected changes in the average first pension as a proportion of the average wage). It concludes by discussing policy challenges faced by EU countries in ensuring sustainability of pension systems and maintaining adequacy of pension incomes.
Older people, pensions and poverty: an issue for social workers?
- Author:
- FOSTER Liam
- Journal article citation:
- International Social Work, 54(3), May 2011, pp.344-360.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Individual quality of life in retirement is affected by material circumstances. Therefore, pension provision will have a significant impact for older people, and may affect peoples’ need for assistance through social services. Therefore, government pension policy requires considerable attention. This article examines the relationship between social work, poverty and social policy. It shows how the social, economic and political context within which older service users live is crucial to their experience of successful ageing. The article then considers the link between poverty in older age and pension receipt and the role of social policy formulation in the UK with particular reference to New Labour governance. Pension policy in the UK is then examined within a European context. In ending, the article considers whether pension poverty levels are likely to change under the new government.
Towards a new political economy of pensions? The implications for women
- Author:
- FOSTER Liam
- Journal article citation:
- Critical Social Policy, 30(1), February 2010, pp.27-47.
- Publisher:
- Sage
The government and pensions industry face the difficult challenge of satisfying 2 potentially contrasting demands: to ensure that government pension spending remains stable and also respond to the needs of the poorest pensioners, many of whom are women. This article employs a political economy approach to assess the changing nature of women’s pension provision. Initially it provides an overview of the current context showing that many female pensioners are without access to significant pension entitlements in their own right. Then it examines the history of women’s pensions over the last 30 years with reference to both state and private forms of provision. It considers the pension strategies of Thatcher and New Labour governments and their impact on women’s pension situation. This includes an evaluation of recent New Labour proposals, such as Personal Accounts, a raise in the basic State Pension age and reintroduction of the link to earnings. Finally, the paper concludes that these proposals do not represent the emergence of a new political economy of pensions which better reflects the needs of female pensioners; rather they are a response to the challenges of an ageing population.
Age in the welfare state: the origins of social spending on pensioners, workers, and children
- Author:
- LYNCH Julia
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Publication year:
- 2006
- Pagination:
- 223p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- New York
Socio-economic conditions have caused problems for many countries in funding their social spending. The book alleges that the welfare state’s role in caring for young people and the elderly plays an important part in political debates about welfare reform. An allegedly elderly bias in American social spending has, during recent years, nourished intense political debates about generational equity. In many European countries, however, relatively high incomes from pensions and increasing rates of child poverty suggest a contrary argument. Unequal benefits for the old and the young provide ammunition for those who advocate more support for people at all stages of life, but also for those who wish to cut existing benefits in the name of intergenerational equity. This book begins with an analysis of social spending patterns in twenty industrialised democracies. Welfare states work better for some age groups than others. It emerges that social programs in the United States and Italy do prioritise the elderly, while Norway and Portugal prioritise low-income families, children and the long-term unemployed. The first half of the book establishes a strategy for conceptualising and measuring these differences and then explores a series of competing hypotheses about why countries might vary in the age orientation of their social policy systems. The second half of the book amplifies and tests these rival hypotheses using paired case studies. The book analyses the causes and consequences of age orientation in social spending policy.
A qualitative comparative analysis of strategies for an ageing society, with special reference to pension and employment policies
- Authors:
- KIM Kyo-seong, LEE Yeonjung
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Social Welfare, 17(3), July 2008, pp.225-235.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The primary purpose of this study is to typify the respondent strategies of the OECD countries based on the interconnected structure of income and employment guarantees. More specifically, this article seeks to typify welfare policies into four types (welfare-to-work, welfare emphasis, labour emphasis, market emphasis) based on the leniency of the pension system and active state intervention in employment security. With the resultant four types, this article then places them as the dependent variable while incorporating per capita GDP, aged dependency ratio, pension maturity level, union density, constitutional structure index and degree of decommodification as causal variables. Through this process, this article aims to derive the decisive variable for each type through qualitative comparative analysis.
Older workers: learning from three international experiences
- Author:
- RIACH Kathleen
- Journal article citation:
- Social Policy and Society, 5(4), October 2006, pp.551-563.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
The contributions in this issue serve as a timely reminder of the importance of choice and autonomy in later working life. As the UK embarks on legislation prohibiting age discrimination, this paper discusses international lessons which can be drawn from older worker experience and related policy in Japan, Australia and the United States. By exploring the integral role of social and cultural norms in the development of pension, retirement and anti-discrimination reform, it emphasizes the importance of taking a holistic approach to older worker opportunity which ensures that practice reflects the intentions behind policy.
Ageing and employment policies: Spain
- Author:
- ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT
- Publisher:
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
- Publication year:
- 2003
- Pagination:
- 119p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Paris
In the face of rapid population ageing and the trend towards early retirement, there is a need to promote better employment opportunities for older people. Much has been said about the need for reform of old-age pensions and early retirement schemes but this may not be sufficient to raise employment rates for older people significantly or to reduce the future risk of labour shortages. Both governments and firms will need to take active measures to adapt wage-setting practices to ageing workforces, to address the extent to which other welfare schemes act as pathways to early retirement, to tackle age discrimination and to improve the job skills and working conditions of older workers. In addition, older workers will need to change their own attitudes towards working longer and acquiring new skills. Little is known about what countries have been doing or should be doing in these areas. This report on Spain is part of a series of around 20 OECD country reports that are intended to fill this gap. Each report contains a survey of the main barriers to employment for older workers, an assessment of the adequacy and effectiveness of existing measures to overcome these barriers and a set of policy recommendations for further action by the public authorities and social partners.
Ageing and employment policies: Germany
- Author:
- ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT
- Publisher:
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
- Publication year:
- 2005
- Pagination:
- 167p, bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- Paris
In the face of rapid population ageing and the trend towards early retirement, there is a need to promote better employment opportunities for older people. Much has been said about the need for reform of old-age pensions and early retirement schemes but this may not be sufficient to raise employment rates for older people significantly or to reduce the future risk of labour shortages. Both governments and firms will need to take active measures to adapt wage setting to ageing workforces, to address the extent to which other welfare schemes act as pathways to early retirement, to tackle age discrimination and to improve the job skills and working conditions of older workers. In addition, older workers will need to change their own attitudes towards working longer and acquiring new skills. Little is known about what countries have been doing or should be doing in these areas. This report on Germany is part of a series of 21 OECD country reports that are intended to fill this gap. Each report contains a survey of the main barriers to employment for older workers, an assessment of the adequacy and effectiveness of existing measures to overcome these barriers and a set of policy recommendations for further action by the public authorities and social partners.