scholarly journals Recognising Unpaid Care in Private Pension Schemes

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 517-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myra Hamilton ◽  
Cathy Thomson
Keyword(s):  
Oecd Countries ◽  
Public Pension ◽  
Private Pension ◽  
Design Features ◽  
Private Pensions ◽  
Unpaid Care ◽  
Pension Schemes

Parents and carers often have interrupted workforce histories, causing gaps in their pension contributions and hence significantly lower retirement incomes. In some countries, to ameliorate these inequalities, carer credits have been introduced to maintain public pension contributions during periods of workforce absence. But improvements to credits in public schemes have taken place alongside a shift to private pensions that widens inequalities for carers. Introducing carer credits to private pensions is one method of addressing these inequalities. A search for examples of credits to private schemes in OECD countries revealed that, at present, they are rare and limited. This article sets out the design features and principles that should underpin carer credits to private pensions.

Elephants on the move. Patterns of public pension reform in OECD countries

2000 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl Hinrichs
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Pension Reform ◽  
Universal Coverage ◽  
Oecd Countries ◽  
Public Pension ◽  
Occupational Pension ◽  
Old Age Security ◽  
Pension Schemes ◽  
The 1960S

Among OECD countries there are two clusters of old-age security systems: (1) ‘Social insurance’ countries had, by the end of the 1960s, fashioned the core of old-age security as public, contributory, earnings-related and unfunded insurance schemes; (2) a diverse collection of countries that, after 1970, topped up their basic pension arrangements with funded occupational pension schemes with (almost) universal coverage. ‘Social insurance’ countries, on which this essay focuses, reveal at least six common trends in pension reform, all about improving the financial sustainability of public schemes. Although the repertoire of incremental adjustment strategies is quite limited, policy changes since the early 1980s have not led to a clear convergence among ‘social insurance’ countries (or across the two clusters). Their original diversity has been somewhat diminished, but it has for the most part merely taken a different form. Public pension reforms regularly harmed (future) beneficiaries. Nevertheless, most reforms were actually based on broad political consensus. The success of attempts to introduce retrenchment policies depends on prior negotiation with – and support obtained from – collective actors above and beyond a simple parliamentary majority. This peculiar prerequisite ensures success in the sense of a sustained implementation of the measures taken and of actual improvement in public trust in ‘reliable’ pension schemes.

Western European Pensions Privatisation: A Response to Jay Ginn

2004 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Hyde ◽  
John Dixon ◽  
Glenn Drover
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Collective Responsibility ◽  
Private Pension ◽  
Economic Disadvantage ◽  
Private Pensions ◽  
Private Provision ◽  
Pension Schemes ◽  
Crucial Difference ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Women Retirees

Our recent paper on state-mandated private pension schemes in Western Europe has been criticised by Ginn because it did not look specifically at the impact of private provision on women. This was not our intent, but she raises important issues that are largely ignored in economics-driven pension privatisation policy discourses. She has addressed this omission by demonstrating that private pension provision may result in significant levels of economic disadvantage among women retirees. We do not disagree with the broad thrust of her analysis and its conclusions. However, because she has failed to appreciate the crucial difference between voluntary and state-mandated private pension provision, her thoughtful analysis does not invalidate our proposition that the state-mandated provision of private pensions in Western Europe is consistent, to varying degrees, with the notion of collective responsibility for needs satisfaction.

scholarly journals The Spanish public pension system as opposed to the alternative of private pension plans

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-26
Author(s):  
M. Cubas Pardo
Keyword(s):  
Pension System ◽  
Substantial Reduction ◽  
Pension Plans ◽  
Public Pension ◽  
Private Pension ◽  
Private Pensions ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Public Pension System ◽  
Average Worker ◽  
The Impact

Many countries are currently facing the problem of sustainability of public pension systems due to demographic developments and changes in the labor market. In this context, private pension plans are often presented as an alternative. This paper aims to describe the functioning of the current public pension system in Spain and the impact that abandoning the current public system and adopting a pension system based on private contributions would have on workers and pensioners. To this end, a hypothetical case study is presented, for an average worker, comparing the contributions made in each of the systems (public and private) as well as the benefits received after retirement. The results show the different nature of public pensions, which act as an insurance and have a strong redistributive component, as opposed to private pensions, which have an investment nature. For the average worker, the adoption of a private system would entail losses in the purchasing power during his working life and a very substantial reduction in the amounts received during retirement, along with greater economic instability.

Towards a New Role for Occupational Pensions in Continental Europe: Elements and Techniques of Solidarity Used within Funded Occupational Pension Schemes

2002 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yves Stevens ◽  
Gerhard Gieselink ◽  
Bea Van Buggenhout
Keyword(s):  
European Society ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Pension Reform ◽  
Occupational Pension ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Private Pensions ◽  
Occupational Pensions ◽  
Pension Schemes ◽  
Financial Issues

‘At first glance, it may seem incongruous to talk of private pensions in terms of equity. We do not for example, question whether champagne consumption is fairly distributed.’ This paper is about the debate on occupational pensions in continental Europe. Instead of looking at the financial issues, it looks at the elements of social protection and solidarity within occupational pensions. Occupational pensions are of increasing importance for continental European society. This is indicated by a so-called ‘new pension order’ that is predominantly influenced by the Anglo-Saxon vision of pensions. However, much of the ongoing (legal) debate on pension reform deals with elements such as fairness and redistribution.

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