February 2022

Ireland. Fix pensions now or risk future misery for a million workers who aren’t saving

Frustration is growing over the glacial pace at which successive governments have approached our deepening pensions crisis. CSO figures published last week show two-thirds of workers aged 20 to 69 have employment-based or personal pension savings to supplement the state pension. Read also Jamaica. Tourism pension fund likely to grow faster than traditional funds – Goffe That might seem reassuring, but once you exclude the public sector, there are around a million private sector workers with no supplementary pension savings at...

December 2021

Understanding and Forecasting Demographic Risk and Benefits

By David Bohl, Barry Hughes & Shelby Johnson There is a global demographic transition underway—mortality rates and fertility rates are declining in almost every country. Different countries are at different stages of this demographic transition, generally corresponding to their level of economic development, and progressing at different speeds. Declining mortality and fertility, along with migration, determine the changing age structures of countries. There are macro-economic, financial, and social burdens and benefits associated with different age structures. Since demographics is largely...

Pensions at a Glance 2021 OECD AND G20 INDICATORS

Pensions at a Glance 2021 OECD AND G20 INDICATORS

By: OECD This ninth edition of Pensions at a Glance provides a range of indicators for comparing pension policies and their outcomes between OECD countries. The indicators are also, where possible, provided for the other major economies that are members of the G20. Two special chapters provide a review of the impact of COVID‑19 on pensions and of recent pension reforms (Chapter 1) and an indepth analysis of automatic adjustment in pension systems (Chapter 2). Get the book here

November 2021

How Will COVID-19 Affect Pensions for Noncovered Workers?

By Jean-Pierre Aubry, Kevin Wandrei, Laura Quinby Federal law allows certain state and local government employees to be excluded from Social Security if they are covered by an employer pension of sufficient generosity. As a result, approximately one-quarter of state and local workers are not covered by Social Security on their current job. Before COVID-19, these “FICA replacement plans” all satisfied the letter of the law in terms of providing benefits of sufficient generosity. This study has three aims. The...

October 2021

Canada. Uber drivers, gig workers pressure Ontario government for employee status

Tens of thousands of people in the province drive and deliver for apps such as Lyft, DoorDash People who drive and deliver for apps such as Uber and DoorDash are calling on the Ontario government to grant them the rights of employees. The province's minister of labour says new protections for gig workers are coming and says it's wrong for app-based workers to earn less than minimum wage. Industry sources tell CBC News they expect the Ford government will soon reveal...

China to encourage development of pensions, insurance for delivery sector

China's top banking and insurance regulator said it would encourage insurers to accelerate the development of commercial pension products and accident insurance for gig-economy workers such as couriers and takeout deliverymen. Read also Hong Kong government proposal for residents to convert pensions into annuities ‘absurd’ if made mandatory, labour minister says China has in recent years experienced a delivery boom powered by millions of couriers who work for companies such as Meituan Dianping and Alibaba’s Ele.me to deliver packages and meal...

The South African Retirement Reality Report 2020

By 10X Investment Even before Covid-19 and the associated lockdown, many South Africans, including many thousands of pensioners, were in crisis. The global pandemic has magnified many vulnerabilities in our society. It is in this context that 10X Investments launches the third annual report on retirement readiness in South Africa. The inaugural Retirement Reality Report, published in 2018, set out to interrogate the developing retirement crisis and its underlying causes based on the results of our Retirement Reality survey. The report...

September 2021

Uber to pay pensions to all its UK drivers, backdated to 2017

Uber is to pay out millions of pounds in missed pension payments to UK drivers dating back as far as 2017 under a deal with the retirement savings watchdog. The ride hailing company was forced to guarantee its 70,000 UK drivers a minimum hourly wage, holiday pay and pensions in March this year after a landmark supreme court ruling over their employment status. Couriers for the group’s UberEats food delivery service are not included in the deal. On Friday, Uber said...

US. New Bill Aims to Solve for the Retirement Plan Coverage Gap

Congressman Jim Himes, D-Connecticut, and Senator Mark Warner, D-Virginia, have introduced the Portable Retirement and Investment Account (PRIA) Act of 2021, designed to provide a retirement savings vehicle to Americans who don’t have access to one. Read also US. Stock Market Helps State Pension Debt Hit 10-Year Low, But Crisis Still Looms Large The legislation would establish a Portable Retirement and Investment Account (PRIA) Fund and a board responsible for establishing regulations for the fund. The bill says the board will...

Singapore- Ministry of Manpower Sets up Advisory Committee to Protect GIG Economy Workers

Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower announced the formation of the Advisory Committee on Platform Workers. The Committee aims to strengthen protections for self-employed persons who work for online platforms, specifically delivery persons, private-hire car drivers, and taxi drivers. Read also Uber to pay pensions to all its UK drivers, backdated to 2017 At its first meeting last week, the Advisory Committee noted the lack of basic job protections due to the nature of platform work, and decided on three priority areas to...