December 2025
04Dec

The German far left grants last-minute approval to pension reform

The opposition party Die Linke announced on Wednesday that it would abstain from Friday's vote on pension reform, thus allowing Friedrich Merz's government to avoid a potentially destabilizing parliamentary defeat. This abstention effectively guarantees the passage of the highly contested bill and offers the chancellor a respite after several weeks of political tension. The bill aims to maintain current levels of state pensions until 2031, a measure presented as a key pillar of the coalition agreement between the conservative Merz...

December 4, 2025
News,
Read more...
03Dec

‘Generation war’ dogs pension debates in France and Germany

A generational reckoning is brewing in Paris and Berlin, where a new wave of younger politicians is putting pensioners on notice: The system is buckling and can’t hold unless retirees do more to help fix it. Culture, language and local politics may add a distinct flavor to each debate, but the European Union’s two biggest economies are dealing with the same issue — how to pay for the soaring costs associated with the retirement of baby boomers. The problem is both...

December 3, 2025
News, , ,
Read more...

November 2025
28Nov

Financial sustainability for the expansion of non-contributory pension systems and the eradication of old-age poverty

By Alberto Arenas de Mesa, Ernesto Espíndola & Juan Ignacio Vila Income protection is a substantive factor and a priority of social protection systems in Latin America and the Caribbean, in particular at either end of the life cycle (i.e. childhood and old age). This is due to the greater vulnerability and lower earning capacity of these population segments compared with other age groups, among other factors (Santos Garcia, Farías and Robles, 2023). In these circumstances, pension systems, in particular...

November 28, 2025
Articles, System Sustainability, , , , ,
Read more...
28Nov

German government finds pension compromise to resolve showdown

Germany's coalition government has pledged to undertake far-reaching reforms of the country's pension system, while sticking to previously agreed pension levels, in a bid to resolve a rebellion within Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative ranks. The measures are outlined in a draft document seen by dpa on Friday, following late-night talks on Thursday between leading conservatives and their junior partner, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD). Under the agreement, a pensions commission is to present proposals for a comprehensive reform by mid-2026. The commission...

November 28, 2025
News,
Read more...
27Nov

Germany’s pension reform becomes a generational conflict

As in France, pensions have become a source of political instability in Germany. For several weeks, the future of the system has poisoned the atmosphere within the government led by conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in office since May 6. Returning from his international trips focused on Ukraine, Merz has had to confront internal rebellion, described as the coalition's most serious crisis yet. The young elected members of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), gathered in the Junge Union organization, have challenged...

November 27, 2025
News,
Read more...
18Nov

Germany’s Merz confronts conservative rebellion over pension reform

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is facing rising opposition — but this time it’s from within his own conservative ranks. A group of 18 young lawmakers in Merz’s conservative bloc are threatening to stop a pension reform bill put forth by the chancellor’s coalition government, arguing the benefits pledged in the agreement aren’t sustainable and “cannot be justified to the younger generation.” The revolt has turned into a test of Merz’s authority and the durability of his relatively weak government — a coalition between...

November 18, 2025
News,
Read more...
18Nov

ILO Advances Its Work on Social Protection in Ukraine, Supporting the Country’s Ongoing Pension Reform

The ILO team engaged in constructive dialogue with Ukrainian partners. A key discussion took place with Denys Ulutin, Minister of Social Policy, Family and Unity, who shared the Government’s approach to building a system that is resilient and forward-looking. The goal of the policies we are working on is a contemporary, sustainable system that supports people and the economy. It is not only about benefits, but also about creating conditions for development. Denys Ulutin, Minister of Social Policy, Family and Unity...

November 18, 2025
News,
Read more...
07Nov

The real obstacle to EU capital market integration is unreformed pension systems

A pension system crisis is looming in the European Union. As their populations age, EU countries must address their often alarmingly high levels of unfunded public pension liabilities, which typically vastly exceed countries’ gross public debt levels (Figure 1). These liabilities are calculated from current life expectancies, effective retirement ages and pension benefit levels. Many, if not all, EU governments will in the coming years have to change these pension system provisions and renege on earlier promises made to...

November 7, 2025
News, ,
Read more...

October 2025
31Oct

The Future of Retirement Security An International Comparison through the Lens of Adequacy, Sustainability, Equity and Plan Design

By Surya Kolluri, Catherine Reilly & David P. Richardson Countries around the world are considering and implementing reforms to their retirement systems for a variety of reasons, including increasing demographic and economic pressures. A key demographic driver is human longevity. For example, the average retiree can expect to spend about two decades in retirement, roughly double the time from 50 years ago. In the United States, life expectancy has risen by 17 years since the Social Security program debuted nearly 90...

October 31, 2025
Adequacy, Articles, Sustainability, , , ,
Read more...
17Oct

French PM survives no-confidence votes after making pension concession

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu survived two no-confidence votes in parliament on Thursday, winning crucial backing from the Socialist Party thanks to his pledge to suspend President Emmanuel Macron’s contested pension reform. The two motions presented by the hard-left France Unbowed and the far-right National Rally (RN) secured just 271 and 144 votes respectively — well short of the 289 votes needed to bring down Lecornu’s days-old government. Lecornu’s offer to mothball the pension reform until after the 2027 presidential election...

October 17, 2025
News,
Read more...