Introduced 20 years ago as a part of the 2001 pension reform, the Riester pension is meant to function as an essential component of the German pension system with the aim of compensating for decreasing public pensions. However, data collected by the SOEP show that this objective has not yet been...

Public pay-as-you-go pensions still form the dominant pillar of old-age provision in Germany. This is in marked contrast to the situation in Anglo-Saxon countries. It has advantages if labour markets are strong, e.g., following a quick recovery from the Great Recession. It has disadvantages, as...

The Croatian system of old-age provision comprises a traditional public pay-as-you-go scheme and a mandatory funded scheme ("second pillar") that will provide increasing amounts of supplementary pensions to those entering retirement in the future. Due to the continuing economic crisis, the...

Durch die Rentenreformen der vergangenen Jahre ist bereits einiges erreicht worden, was die Belastungen der heute noch jungen und zukünftiger Generationen verringert. Der Anstieg dieser Belastungen durch hohe Beitragssätze und hohe "implizite Steuern" des Rentensystems muss aber noch weiter...

The rapidly aging populations of many developed countries--most notably Japan and member countries of the European Union--present obvious problems for the public pension plans of these countries. Not only will there be disproportionately fewer workers making pension contributions than there are...

Intro -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- CESifo Book Series in Economic Policy -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1 Demography -- 2 Public Support for the Old -- 3 Public Support for Families and Children -- 4 Child-Related Elements in Public Pension Schemes -- 5 Life-cycle...

The demographic change is posing many challenges for government budgets. In the face of a shrinking work force, keeping the number of workers and thus pension contributors at the highest possible level is a key economic policy goal. This could be achieved if people retire from the work force...