March 2024

What we must do to expand pension coverage in Kenya

By SIMON WAFUBWA   Significant progress in the pension sector has been made in the past two decades and we continue to see growth every year. According to the Retirement Benefits Authority, Kenya’s Pension Assets stood at Sh1.7 trillion by the end of June 2023. This marked an 8.1 percent growth compared to Sh1.5 trillion the previous year. However, as a country, we still have certain challenges to overcome to ensure the financial security of the entire population during their retirement years. The...

February 2024

US. People want pension plans, worry about retirement security – NIRS

National anxiety about retirement security continues to grow, and the vast majority of Americas believe all workers should have a pension plan, according to a new report from the National Institute for Retirement Security. According to the report, 79% of respondents to a national public opinion poll of working-age Americans believe that the nation faces a retirement crisis, up from 67% that expressed that sentiment in 2020, the last time NIRS conducted such a poll. Also, 83% of respondents said they...

Ireland. The Two Main Reasons People Don’t Have A Pension

More than two-thirds of workers have some form of pension coverage outside of the State pension, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has said. Of the 68% of workers aged 20-69 with additional pension coverage, 70% have an occupational pension, 10% have a personal pension and 20% have both, including 22% of men and 19% of women. For employees with occupational pensions from their current employment, the number with 'defined benefit' pensions decreased in 2023 from 32% to 30% while the number with 'defined...

January 2024

They flocked to build China’s cities. Now builders are aging with little retirement

About 30 years ago, construction worker Song Aimin believed a lifetime of labor could earn him a spot among China's growing urban middle class. He left his village in the northern Hebei province and headed to Beijing. "Back then, all the people in the villages wanted to leave to go find work in the cities. Laboring in the cities meant that you always ate well — at least, better than you ate back home," says Song, now 64 years old....

December 2023

Pensions at a Glance 2023: OECD and G20 Indicators

By OECD The 2023 edition of Pensions at a Glance highlights the pension reforms undertaken by OECD countries over the last two years. It includes a special chapter focusing on pension provisions for hazardous or arduous work. It describes existing rules, characterises recent policy trends and assesses the design and functioning of early-retirement rules for hazardous or arduous jobs given changing working conditions and ageing pressure on pension systems. This edition also updates information on the key features of pension provision in...

Charting a Course Towards Universal Social Protection: Resilience, Equity, and Opportunity for All

By World Bank Group Charting a Course Towards Universal Social Protection: Resilience, Equity, and Opportunity for All, known as the Social Protection and Jobs Compass updates the World Bank strategy for social protection amid rapid change both within the sector and beyond. The Compass puts at its heart the vision of universal social protection. It recognizes that the progressive realization of universal social protection, which ensures access to social protection for all whenever and however they need it, is critical...

India. About 95% of country’s population uninsured, reveals report

As much as 95 per cent of the country's population is uninsured despite the government and the insurance regulator's efforts to expand coverage, the National Insurance Academy said in a report, which was released on Thursday. Unveiling the report, Irdai Chairman Debasish Panda urged the industry to emulate steps that led to the massive success of the UPI, opening of bank accounts, as well as mobile penetration. Panda said a compulsory natural calamity insurance in high-risk regions -- as recommended in...

Social Protection for Older Persons Social Pensions in Asia

By Sri Wening Handayani & Babken Babajanian The rising number of older persons in Asia has accentuated the importance of strengthening the systems of social protection in the region. This book examines the effectiveness and relevance of noncontributory or social pensions in supporting older persons in Asia. It discusses the political economy and financial sustainability of social pension reform, implications for gender equity and social rights, and design and implementation challenges. Case studies from Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand, Viet Nam, and South...

Overview of social protection systems in Latin America and the Caribbean: Progress and setbacks in the face of the pandemic

By International Labour Organization The crisis triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak has exposed the gap that persists in the region to achieve comprehensive protection systems, based on a social protection floor which guarantees for universal access to health and economic security over the life cycle. Social protection coverage in Latin America evolved positively in the decade before the pandemic. Contributing members to the system increased by 14 per cent over the 2012-2019 period and the ratio of contributing workers to the employed population was 46.9...

Recent developments in social pensions in Latin America

By International Social Security Association Non-contributory pensions, also known as social pensions, are an important component of rights-based universal social protection systems. They allow extending pension coverage relatively rapidly to elderly persons who are not covered by contributory schemes. Usually financed by general revenues and providing relatively modest benefits, eligibility for social pensions is often conditional on low income or certain other criteria. The right to social protection, including old age income security, is enshrined in various national constitutions and legal...