Pension

Pension reform has been on the agenda of most welfare states in the developed world for almost a century. Theories of welfare regime and pension regime typologies, developed in the 1990s and 2000s, continue to contribute a great deal to our understanding of “winners” and “losers” within changing systems of welfare protection in different countries. This chapter provides a succinct summary of pension reforms in the developed world in the last half-century or so, drawing primarily on European examples, and critically discussing the differential impact of pension reforms on different parts of the population. It first summarises the key demographic changes taking place which have been concomitant with pension reform, including population ageing and the extension of longevity. It then critically discusses socio-economic changes which have also been taking place during this time, including increasing insecurity in labour market and the rise of “working poor” individuals and households. Common patterns of pension reform in the developed world are summarised next, before identifying mechanisms within pension systems which perpetuate inequalities within the population. The chapter concludes with a critical discussion of the parameters which are necessary for achieving income adequacy and financial sustainability for pension systems in the futur