Europe Archives - Pension Policy International

05OctOctober 5, 2026

2025 European Pension Landscape: Comparing Amounts and Purchasing Power Across Countries

Pensions serve as the main income stream for older adults throughout Europe. Approximately two-thirds of pensioners' earnings within the European Union come from government transfers. As of 2025, individuals over 65 in 28 European countries receive around 86% of the average wage. However, this figure drops below 70% in the Baltic states. Belgium, Denmark, and Switzerland also report pensions at less than 80% of average income. The average gross pension within the EU is about €1,443 per month. Among EU...

October 5, 2026

NewsAdequacy, Europe, Income

02OctOctober 2, 2026

Can Voluntary Health Insurance Ease the Burden on Public Healthcare? Theory and Evidence from Europe

By Clara Andresciani, Debora Di Gioacchino & Laura Sabani This paper revisits the “decongestion effect” argument, according to which greater reliance on privately financed healthcare relieves pressure on public services. We develop a probabilistic voting model in which individuals, who differ in income, may purchase tax-deductible private health insurance, thereby gaining access to private care and reducing their demand for public healthcare. The model predicts that, as more individuals opt for private care, both political support and fiscal resources for...

October 2, 2026

Articles, System Sustainability2026, Europe, Healthcare, Sustainability

09SepSeptember 9, 2026

How Europe can turn its investment gap into an opportunity

Past choices are visible in today’s balance sheets Household balance sheets reflect decades of saving and investment decisions, asset-price movements and institutional arrangements. In 2025, eurozone households held almost €220,000 in financial assets per household, including €69,000 in deposits, €56,000 in insurance and pension entitlements, €46,000 in unlisted equity and €43,000 in market-based assets. Average financial liabilities stood at €53,000. The level and composition of wealth differ markedly across countries. These differences reflect not only household investment choices, but also...

September 9, 2026

NewsEurope, Investment, savings

04SepSeptember 4, 2026

Pensions from Capital: How Pension Funds in the United States, Japan and Europe Invest -and What Private Investors Can Learn from Them

By Roland Rupprechter This paper examines the pension funds of the large industrial countries — with more than USD 68 trillion between them, the heaviest group of investors in the world. It compares how funded retirement provision is organised in the United States, in Japan and in Europe: how state, occupational and private provision differ, who grants which tax advantages to whom and at what level, and why equity quotas diverge so widely across regions — from 25 per cent...

September 4, 2026

Articles, Pension Management2026, Europe, Funding, Japan, Occupational Pensions, Pension Management, US

02SepSeptember 2, 2026

Will Europe dismantle the welfare state? Pension cuts and healthcare collapse threat looms

The economic decline of the once-mighty West is becoming so obvious that even leading economists are starting to acknowledge that the Western economic model faces severe structural problems. For decades, Western media presented the economies of the US and Europe as benchmarks of growth and prosperity, backed by robust markets, high returns, and a generous welfare state capable of funding pensions, healthcare, and social benefits. Today, however, the picture has shifted dramatically. Those same media outlets now admit that...

September 2, 2026

NewsEurope, Social Security, System sustainability

12AugAugust 12, 2026

European Commission approves non-binding guidelines for supplementary retirement savings

Set out in Recommendation (EU) 2025/2384, approved in November 2025 as part of the Savings and Investment Union initiative led by Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque, these measures aim to boost future retirement income. However, under Article 288 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, these recommendations are non-binding; the decision on whether and how to implement them at the national level rests entirely with each Member State. Free national service A key proposal from Brussels is the creation of...

August 12, 2026

NewsEurope, Regulation, savings

10AugAugust 10, 2026

Fewer babies, more retirees: How Europe’s demographic math is changing

Europe is confronting a demographic problem that is becoming increasingly difficult for governments to ignore: fewer children are being born while the number of older people continues to rise. The trend is already visible in shrinking schools, ageing communities and growing pressure on pension and healthcare systems. In the Spanish village of Vilardevos, the change is particularly stark. A primary school originally built for around 700 children now has only 31 pupils. Classes have to be combined because there are not...

August 10, 2026

News2026, Aging, Europe, Labor Market

07AugAugust 7, 2026

The macroeconomic and fiscal impact of population ageing

By Katalin Bodnár & Carolin Nerlich The euro area, like many other advanced economies, has entered an era of drastic demographic change. Without appropriate policy responses, population ageing in the euro area is posing formidable challenges for potential growth, monetary policy and public finances. This paper examines – from a central bank’s perspective – the macroeconomic and fiscal effects of population ageing in the euro area and looks at the main challenges ahead in the next decades. Total population in the...

August 7, 2026

Aging, Books, Books, Reports2026, Aging, EU, Europe, Taxation

31JulJuly 31, 2026

US. Pension giants warn SEC climate rule rescission will cost investors

The SEC announced its rescission proposal in May, saying the rules exceed the scope of its statutory authority and are “unnecessary and inconsistent” with a registrant-specific, materiality-based approach to disclosure. In the proposal document, the US financial regulator also said it expects the market-driven flow of information to continue following a rescission of the rules. Several major pension funds have submitted responses in recent days, including US heavyweights CalPERs, and the New York City and Maryland comptrollers, as well as Sweden’s...

July 31, 2026

NewsEurope, Regulation, US

15JulJuly 15, 2026

Ticking time bomb? Europe’s aging population brings challenges

The population of the 27-nation European Union will peak in 2029 before falling in the coming decades, according to a report published Tuesday that spotlights the major challenges the bloc faces from an aging population. Today, there are 450.6 million people, but researchers say this will peak at 453.3 million in 2029 before a slow, long-term decline. The population will fall to 398.8 million people by 2100, an overall drop of 11.7 percent and a level last experienced in the 1970s. Europeans...

July 15, 2026

NewsAging, Europe

October 2026

2025 European Pension Landscape: Comparing Amounts and Purchasing Power Across Countries

Can Voluntary Health Insurance Ease the Burden on Public Healthcare? Theory and Evidence from Europe

September 2026

How Europe can turn its investment gap into an opportunity

Pensions from Capital: How Pension Funds in the United States, Japan and Europe Invest -and What Private Investors Can Learn from Them

August 2026

European Commission approves non-binding guidelines for supplementary retirement savings

Fewer babies, more retirees: How Europe’s demographic math is changing

The macroeconomic and fiscal impact of population ageing

July 2026

US. Pension giants warn SEC climate rule rescission will cost investors

Ticking time bomb? Europe’s aging population brings challenges