Social protection systems play a key stabilising role for individuals and societies, especially in the recent context of heightened uncertainties. This paper proposes a new empirical approach for quantifying the accessibility and value of income transfers following an earnings loss. The approach...

The paper describes Chile’s pension reform of 1980, which replaced the existing pay-as-you-go public pension programs by a new funded pension program managed by private companies (the “AFP´s”). It comments on the main results of this reform so far, and identifies the current challenges...

Social protection systems use a range of entitlement criteria. First-tier support typically requires contributions or past employment in many countries, while safety net benefits are granted on the basis of need. In a context of volatile and uncertain labour markets, careful and continuous...

1. Economists and policymakers increasingly use the word “actuarial” in the analysis of pension systems and retirement incentives. But the debate is often confused. “Actuarial fairness” and “actuarial neutrality” are promoted loosely as desirable goals of pension reform. This paper...

Pension systems are complex and comparing them across countries is therefore difficult. This paper adopts standard methodology to calculate prospective pension entitlements in nine countries. The modeling ncludes universal and resource-tested schemes, public and private earnings-related plans...

This paper discusses housing challenges facing people with disabilities in OECD and EU countries, and policy supports to make housing more affordable, accessible and adapted to their needs. It focuses on the adult population with disabilities living outside institutions, drawing on data from the...

Child poverty is firmly on the policy agenda in many OECD countries. One of the main issues in the debate is the appropriate balance between the so-called “benefits strategy” (increasing the adequacy of benefits for low-income families with children) and the so-called “work strategy”...

This is the 2005 edition of a Net Social Expenditure paper that contains information on net (after tax) public and private social expenditure. These indicators supplement the detailed historical information on gross (before tax) publicly mandated social expenditure in the OECD Social Expenditure...

The paper starts with a brief look at social expenditure patterns and the importance of different social policy areas, in particular the role of social assistance policy within social protection systems. It then looks at the objectives of social assistance policy and considers payment-rates in...

Policies designed to advance the march toward private financing and delivery of social services follow five main pathways. While some of these approaches to privatization are more direct and transparent than others, all may be pursued simultaneously. Three approaches concentrate on increasing...