August 2025
12Aug

China’s pension system needs an overhaul because it is neither fair nor sustainable

By Zhou Xin Mainland China’s pension system has again become an issue of debate after the Supreme People’s Court ruled that any private agreement between employers and employees to evade payment of retirement funds was invalid. While the legal interpretation reiterated existing laws and regulations, it struck a nerve with the population and triggered doubts about the pension system’s fairness and sustainability. China’s pay-as-you-go system, which requires workers to contribute funds into a state-managed pool to pay for their retirement, essentially serves as a...

August 12, 2025
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12Aug

German second pillar reform ‘falls short’, say industry bodies

Germany’s occupational pensions industry has expressed disappointment with draft legislation to reform the second pillar pension system, calling for further changes to fully unlock the potential of company pensions. The draft law, prepared by the finance ministry and the ministry of labour and social affairs, aims to extend occupational pensions in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) via defined contribution (DC) schemes under the so-called social partner model, widen automatic enrolment, and allow occupational pension vehicles such as Pensionskassen and Pensionsfonds...

August 12, 2025
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06Aug

Update to German pension legislation sets out comprehensive reform

New draft legislation from the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS) aims to comprehensively reform and strengthen occupational pension schemes, but it remains to be seen whether this idea will be realised, experts have said. Dr. Andreas Schöberle and Felix Pickert, employment law experts at Pinsent Masons, were commenting following the publication of the draft bill (56 pages/516 KB PDF). The aim is to increase the prevalence of occupational pensions schemes, particularly in small and medium-sized enterprises and among low-income earners. According to...

August 6, 2025
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July 2025
25Jul

Pensions in Spain: A Reform that Backfires

By Julián Díaz Saavedra & Javier Díaz-Giménez After the pension policy reversal that took place at the end of the past decade, the Spanish government approved a pack of new parametric changes to its public pension system, to cope with the present and future Spanish pension system imbalance. To study these changes, we use a large-scale overlapping generations model calibrated to the Spanish Economy, and show that this pension reform backfires. This is because these changes bring no significant variation...

July 25, 2025
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23Jul

Kenya. JSC urges Parliament to fast-track pensions Bill, says delay denying retired judges fair compensation

Judges have called on Parliament to fast-track the passage of a delayed pensions Bill that promises annual inflation-linked adjustments to their retirement benefits. The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) says the prolonged delay in enacting the Judges Retirement Bill, 2025, is denying retired judges fair compensation in line with rising living costs The Judiciary has now urged legislators to expedite the Bill, which seeks to establish a dedicated pension framework for judges of the superior courts, providing for annual pension adjustments pegged...

July 23, 2025
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22Jul

UK. PensionBee Urges Action As Government Revives Pensions Commission To Tackle Looming Retirement Crisis

PensionBee, a leader in the consumer retirement market, has called on the Government to match words with action following today’s revival of the Pensions Commission. PensionBee, welcomed the move as a long-overdue wake-up call, warning that without bold reform, millions – including carers, the self-employed, women and low-paid workers – risk sleepwalking into retirement poverty. Lisa Picardo, Chief Business Officer UK at PensionBee said: “This Pensions Commission shines a welcome light on the very real risk that millions face a poorer retirement unless...

July 22, 2025
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15Jul

A revolution in the pension system is being prepared in Ukraine: what is known about it and how much payments will increase

Ukraine is preparing a large-scale pension reform that will allow citizens to significantly increase their future payments. According to the new model, pensions can be doubled or even tripled by combining three levels – solidarity, accumulative and voluntary. This was stated by the Minister of Social Policy, Oksana Zholnovych, in the program “What about the economy?” . It is noted that in some cases the pension will reach 80% of the previous earnings. The draft law on launching the accumulative system is...

July 15, 2025
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14Jul

UK. DWP benefits warning as payments could be slashed by 15% in certain scenarios

Universal Credit and Pension Credit are essential sources of financial support for many in the UK. Yet, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) cautions that, in highly exceptional cases, claimants could experience reductions of 5% to 15%. These cuts, called 'third-party deductions', happen when a benefits recipient owes debts like court fines, rent, Council Tax, or energy bills. Usually, deductions are made at a fixed rate until the debt is paid off, with a maximum of three debts being...

July 14, 2025
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11Jul

The Pensions Review: final recommendations

By Jonathan Cribb, Carl Emmerson, Paul Johnson, Heidi Karjalainen & Laurence O’Brien This final report of the Pensions Review, a major project launched in April 2023 by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, in partnership with abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, examines the main risks to today’s working-age individuals in the UK pension system and sets out policy proposals primarily focused on improving outcomes for future generations of retirees. This report does further analysis and draws on the large number of reports...

July 11, 2025
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June 2025
30Jun

Pensions conclave: What changes for retirement in France?

The French prime minister has hailed small steps of progress at his pensions 'conclave' - including one change which has particular significance for foreigners who have worked in France for part of their career. On Thursday, after four months of discussions between the government, employers and moderate unions broke up, France’s Prime Minister François Bayrou extended – again – the deadline to mid-July to allow agreement on sticking points. There has been no big breakthrough on the issue that has convulsed...

June 30, 2025
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