September 2025

Global warning: solving pensions gaps around the world

From gender gaps to vulnerable workers, inadequate pensions are an issue the world over. What are countries doing about it? Around the world, many people are still without pension provision. Here, we explore this by looking at case studies of countries with significant coverage issues, and countries that are making changes to improve coverage. Some of the major drivers and resulting effects of inadequate pension provision are: The gender pensions gap – Figure 1 shows the gender pensions gap in OECD countries....

August 2025

China Is Trying to Expand Its Social Safety Net. Yet Many Chinese Are Worried.

As of Sept. 1, all employers in China must contribute to benefits for their employees, to support their pensions, medical care, maternity leave and more. That should come as good news to many ordinary Chinese, given how threadbare China’s social safety net has been. But rather than celebrating, many in China have reacted with worry and frustration. Small business owners have said that their labor costs will skyrocket. Workers have speculated that their bosses will lay them off or lower their...

IORPs in Focus Report 2024

By European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority This report outlines the latest market developments in the occupational pensions sector, with a focus on IORPs and their cross-border arrangements. A factsheet summarizing the key findings accompanies the publication, providing a visual overview of the main trends in Europe's IORP sector for interested readers. Get the report here

Reforming the Pension System in Nepal: Sustainability, Adequacy, and Coverage

By Dilip Raj Paudel Pension systems ensure financial security during retirement, especially in developing countries like Nepal. The sustainability, adequacy, and coverage of pension systems are critical for ensuring social security after retirement, particularly in developing countries like Nepal. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of Nepal's pension framework, examining contributory and non-contributory schemes to identify their strengths, limitations, and areas for reform. Utilizing a mixed-method approach, primary data from 384 respondents and secondary sources, including reports from international organizations,...

The Causal Influence of Pension on the Participation of Older Workers in the Ghanaian Labour Market

By George Domfe, Kwadwo Opoku & Antoinette Tsiboe-Darko Population ageing has stirred up policy discourse on pension coverage in developing economies. While in most of these countries, a smaller proportion of older persons receive pensions in the form of regular payments from the state, a considerable proportion of them engage in active work to maintain their livelihood. These descriptions are typically true of Ghana. However, it remains unclear in the Ghanaian literature whether the absence of a pension is a...

Saudi Arabia to launch voluntary pension and savings scheme for foreign workers

Saudi Arabia is preparing to announce a new voluntary pension and savings program that will be open to both Saudi and foreign workers, according to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest Article IV consultation report, cited by Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper. The program is designed to boost household savings and is expected to help curb the outflow of workers’ remittances abroad. The Public Pension and Savings Program is anticipated to be unveiled soon. Foreign remittances from Saudi Arabia rose 14 percent last year to...

July 2025

Ghana’s Social Security @ 60: Vice President urges broader coverage for informal sector

Vice President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang has called on the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to extend pension coverage to informal sector workers and the self-employed. Speaking, Monday, at the launch of the 60th Anniversary Celebration of the inception of a national social security scheme in Ghana, the Vice President commended stakeholders for its transformation from a provident fund, in 1965, into a three-tier pension scheme. She, however, urged management and staff to do more to ensure inclusivity. The Vice...

South Korea. New Proposal Seeks to Extend Employer Pension Contributions to Gig Workers

South Korea is weighing a significant pension reform that could bring platform workers — such as food delivery riders and chauffeur-for-hire drivers — under the same pension contribution scheme as regular employees, with their platforms potentially covering half of their premiums. A new report released Tuesday by the National Pension Research Institute calls for extending employer-like responsibilities to digital platforms, arguing that most platform workers operate under economically dependent conditions despite being legally classified as independent contractors. Based on a survey...

Ghana. Expand informal sector pension coverage – Minister charges NPRA board

The Minister of Labour, Jobs and Employment, Dr Rashid Pelpuo, has charged the governing council of the pensions regulator to expand pensions coverage to the informal sector. He said the sector held a significant share of the working population and untapped pension contributors of the country. “Innovative policies and tailored products must be developed to harness and protect the hard-earned savings of informal workers,” Dr Pelpuo said, when he swore in a 10-member board of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA)...

June 2025

Experts call for universal pension law as majority of Uganda’s elderly remain uncovered

Experts have urged the government to introduce a universal, rights-based pension law to protect the country’s growing elderly population, most of whom currently receive no formal support. The call was made by the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER) and Research & Action for Income Security (RAISE) during the launch of a new working paper titled “A People’s Pension: The Right to Social Security for Older Persons Comparative Perspectives from Southern and Eastern Africa. According to the paper, Uganda lacks...