August 2026

US. Successfully Aging: The economic contributions of people aged 50 years and older

Q. I continue to read that our seniors are a drain on the economy with the costs of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other government age-related programs. I don’t want to feel guilty because I certainly do my part. Can you provide another side of the story? Thanks. B.K. Thank you for that very important question. Clearly, the programs you mentioned are a significant part of our government’s budget and expenses. However, there is another side to the story. It’s called...

Being single in retirement – a key issue for the Pensions Commission?

By LCP The paper considers whether pensions policy is keeping pace with these changes and explores different approaches for the Pensions Commission to consider. These include strengthening pension saving for lower-earning partners, reviewing pension-sharing arrangements following the breakdown of cohabiting relationships, assessing the impact of no-fault divorce reforms, and exploring whether joint-life annuities should become the default. Get the report here

Nigeria. Military pensioners protest in Abuja over benefit adjustments

Scores of retired military personnel on Wednesday protested in Abuja over the alleged non-implementation of consequential adjustments to their pensions following salary increases approved for serving military personnel. The pensioners gathered at an open field in Area 10, Garki, near the Ministry of Defence, carrying placards with various inscriptions urging the Federal Government to implement outstanding salary adjustments in their pensions. The protest triggered the deployment of security personnel, including soldiers, police and operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence...

UK. ​Single pensioners drive rise in retirement poverty, LCP finds

The consultancy said the overall pensioner poverty rate, measured on a consistent basis, rose from 15.7% in 2012-13 to 18.6% in 2023-24. Poverty among pensioner couples has remained relatively flat over the period, but rates have climbed sharply among single pensioners, particularly those who are divorced or have never married. More recent corrected figures from the Department for Work and Pensions, which are not yet available as a long-term series, put the poverty rate among single pensioners at 19.8% in...

Shadow Pensions: An Exploratory Field Study of Informal Old-Age Income Strategies Among Jakarta’s Unregistered Workforce

By Fajrin Andi Muhamad Pratama Indonesia's main old-age insurance program, BPJS Ketenagakerjaan, is built almost entirely around formal employment-yet three in five Indonesian workers are informal, and only a small fraction of them are ever enrolled. National statistics capture the size of that gap well; they say almost nothing about what people actually do instead. I spent three days in Jakarta interviewing market traders and ojek drivers to find out. The results were not quite what I expected going in....

AI, Fiscal Space, and Social Protection in Four Latin American Economies: ;A Scenario-based Threshold Framework

By Vicenzo Scavino Can fiscal space from artificial intelligence finance recurrent social protection in Latin America? This paper develops a prespecified, scenario-based feasibility test that translates an AI dividend into income and fiscal capture, compares it with policy costs, and applies debt-consistency and persistence screens. For Peru, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico, no deterministic crossing occurs under non-stress scenarios because translation and capture jointly fall short. Crossings arise only under diagnostic disruption: Chilean guaranteed minimum income is conditionally feasible and debt-consistent;...

Japan proposes tougher income, pension rules for permanent residency

Japan’s immigration agency on Aug 4 proposed tougher requirements for granting permanent residency to foreigners, including requiring applicants to maintain income above the average for Japanese households and a certain level of projected pension benefits. The proposed guidelines are part of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s push to create an “orderly society” in which Japanese and foreign nationals coexist while cracking down on illegal activities. The Immigration Services Agency will solicit public comments before implementing the new rules from April 2027. Permanent residents can...

July 2026

Pension Income and Post-Retirement Labor Supply

By Fabian Kindermann, Carla Krolage, Sebastian Kunz, Manuel Pannier & Karoline Ströhlein This paper provides causal evidence on how pension income affects labor supply after retirement. We exploit the introduction of the German Earned Income Pension Credit (Grundrente), which permanently increased pension income for retirees with long contribution histories and comparatively low lifetime earnings. The reform generates exogenous variation in non-labor income without creating additional labor supply distortions, allowing us to isolate pure income effects. Using administrative data covering the...

June 2026

The Roadmap for Eradicating Poverty Beyond Growth – Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights

By Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights The Roadmap for Eradicating Poverty Beyond Growth (Addendum to report A/HRC/62/42) provides advice to States on the eradication of extreme poverty in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The Roadmap aims to assist States in implementing the Guiding Principles on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, adopted by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 21/11 and which the General Assembly welcomed in its resolution 67/164 of 20 December 2012. The Roadmap...

Retirement Wealth Across Europe: A Country-by-Country Comparison

Retirement wealth differs greatly across European nations, affecting living standards in ways that go beyond what pension income alone can provide, according to the European Central Bank's Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) released in mid-2023. In certain countries, older households possess more than 30 times the wealth of their counterparts elsewhere, illustrating how housing, pensions, and family assistance influence financial security in later years. Within the euro area, households aged 65 to 74 have a median net wealth of EUR185,300....