October 2020

Workforce Aging, Pension Reforms, and Firm Outcomes

By Francesca Carta, Francesco D’Amuri, Till Von Wachter Raising statutory retirement ages has been a popular policy to increase the labor supply of older workers in the face of population aging. In this paper, we quantify the effect of a sharp and unexpected increase in retirement ages on firms’ input mix and economic outcomes using Italian administrative and survey data on employment, wages, value added and capital. Exploiting information on lifetime pension contributions for the universe of employees, we...

5 retirement security risks that 2020 made worse

Retirement security was already on shaky ground when the calendar turned to January 1, ushering in a year of unprecedented and unexpected challenges that have compounded threats to global retirement security. According to Natixis Investment Managers’ 9th annual Global Retirement Index, the challenges of 2020 have disrupted financial markets, caused widespread unemployment and demanded urgent response from policy-makers, all of which could have long-reaching impacts on retirement security. The goal of the index is to provide an objective tool for...

US. Deaths of despair: Not everyone benefits from the ‘longevity economy’

America recently passed a grim milestone of over 210,000 COVID-19 deaths, with little hope the pandemic will come under control soon. While the coronavirus has been devastating to those who’ve lost loved ones, it has also exacted a vicious toll on a particular group of older Americans: lower-wage workers, minorities and women who have labored for decades in jobs with unstable incomes and without employee benefits. Read also 5 retirement security risks that 2020 made worse We hear a lot...

Australia. Release the Retirement Income Review: Labor

Labor MP Stephen Jones has joined ASFA and the Business Council of Australia in demanding the government release the long-awaited Retirement Income Review ahead of more changes to super. Jones, who was speaking at an online event for ASFA, criticised the government's latest raft of superannuation reforms and the early release of super (ERS) program. "The Superannuation Minister [Jane Hume]- who flips and flops between ambivalent and conflicted in her own portfolio - argues that there is no cost...

United Kingdom (UK) Pre-Retirement Pensions Market 2020

By Research and Markets The total UK pensions market grew 16.1% to £16.4bn annual premium equivalent (APE) in 2019. Workplace pensions drove growth as minimum pension contributions increased to 8%. Direct benefit to direct contribution transfers continue as companies de-risk and individuals take advantage of pension freedoms. COVID-19 will bring uncertainty to saving for retirement. The UK economy has officially entered into recession and disposable incomes are set to fall as unemployment rises. This will force many individuals to...

The Pan-European Pension Product Regulation – Europe’s Solution to the ‘Pensions Gap’

By Sebastiaan Niels Hooghiemstra In July 2012, the European Commission asked the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (‘EIOPA’), in the broader context of efforts to develop private funded pensions, to advise on a legal framework for a Single Market for PPPs. Following a Discussion Paper, a Preliminary Report, a draft advice and a Final Report published by EIOPA, Regulation (EU) 2019/1238 (‘PEPPR’) was adopted on 20 June 2019. The PEPPR establishes a 2nd regime (also known as the...

Latin America’s new poor

When the pandemic struck Piura, a city in northern Peru, Daniel Zapata had a part-time job with a market-research firm. The 250 soles ($70) he earned each month paid his fees for a three-year course in business administration. The covid-19 recession put paid to all that. The firm closed, and Mr Zapata, who is 20 and lives with his parents and a sister, has dropped out of his course. The family received 760 soles in emergency aid from Peru’s...

Income is a Primary Concern for Retirees

As life expectancy increases it’s only going to become more difficult for Americans to pay for their retirement. When 401(k) plans emerged 40 years ago, not much thought was given to how workers would use the money they accumulated. It has only been fairly recently that the concept of “retirement income” has taken shape, mostly in response to workers expressing deep concerns about what their futures might look like. This report looks at new ways to address retirement income...

September 2020

South Africa. Pandemic accelerates changes in retirement sector

Purpose of Regulation 28 of the Pension Funds Act is to protect retirement savings. The speed at which the Covid pandemic came upon us, particularly for the employee benefits and retirement fund industry, has been likened by some to a wave of change that was necessary to propel business thinking and its applications forward. This has placed greater emphasis on the growing influence of a multitude of regulations, technologies and social ideas that were already in play before the lockdown took...

The Quality of Employment (QoE) in Nine Latin American Countries: A Multidimensional Perspective

By Kirsten Sehnbruch This paper proposes a methodology for measuring the quality of employment from a multidimensional and public policy perspective in Latin American developing countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay) using household and labor force survey data from 2015. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the QoE can be measured using a multidimensional methodology that can inform policy makers about the state of their labor markets in a way...