Most European Union countries are facing with major problems regarding their public pension systems. Romania has large difficulties in its public pension system, of which we consider the most important is the large number of beneficiaries and the small number of contributors, that determine a...

It is generally accepted that the Social Security program pays women a higher average ratio of lifetime benefits to lifetime taxes than it does men. Social Security's progressive benefit structure and annuity payment combine with women's lower average earnings and longer average life spans to...

Social partners, trade unions and employer associations have been involved in most changes to the corporatist welfare state of Germany. In 2001, the government enacted a pension reform to replace the generous but - due to demographic constraints - unsustainable pay-as-you-go public pension...

The introduction of NDC public pension scheme in few European countries, such as Latvia, Sweden, Italy, and Poland, in the nineties was motivated, among other things, by the need (i) to ensure the long term financial sustainability of the public pension system by linking pension returns to...

This article provides policymakers with context for understanding past and future policy discussions regarding Social Security widow benefits. Using data from surveys, projections from a microsimulation model, and recent research, it examines three types of benefits - those for aged widows,...

This policy brief is designed to raise awareness of the current and future economic circumstances of older women, and the ways in which Social Security reform can help alleviate their unmet needs. It considers the gaps in benefit adequacy and economic security that are not addressed by current...

Governments around the world are reacting to extended lifespans and troubled pension finances by increasing the age of retirement benefit entitlement. One concern that arises is how those who are not working before reaching entitlement age are able to bridge their consumption to the age of...

This paper by the Urban Institute explores the impact of the RET on individual behavior. The RET may affect two personal decisions: (1) how many hours to work (including leaving the workforce); and (2) at what age to start claiming Social Security benefits. The RET may discourage a certain group...

This chapter does not consider the rise in pension funds as the centre of an accumulation regime under a kind of pure economic and financial problematic. It proposes that this rise puts into play – and the things related with it – the implicit political program that pension funds are...

In Uruguay, the pension programs cover over 90% of the elderly. Men are more likely to be eligible for the contributory pensions, while women are over-represented in the assistential and survivor pension programs. This difference is linked to the fact that women tend to have longer spells out of...