SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM AND THE SUPPORT FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION

The provision of pensions for the old and public education for the young represent a large share of public budgets. In most Western countries, current Social Security systems are under a big financial stress. Several reforms have been proposed to solve this problem. This paper deals with the impact that some of these reforms have, through a political process, on publicly financed education. We develop a model linking both public transfer schemes, in which heterogeneous individuals vote the educational tax. Our findings show that most of the proposals that entail a partial privatization of the pension system have a negative impact on public education and, thus, on economic growth.