Exploring gender and pensions in Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam

Gender is an important dimension of the way welfare is organised and distributed around the world, and old-age social protection in Asia is no exception. This paper uses evidence from international policy organisations in order to discuss key issues in the area of pension protection from a gender perspective. In particular, the paper draws on the demographic, socio-economic and policy patterns in three case studies in Asia: Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam. The paper argues that formal social protection needs to be understood by policy-makers in conjunction with developments in the patterns of informal support networks in these countries, in order to address the vulnerability faced by women throughout their lifecourse and particularly in later lif