November 2022

How will aging nations pay for their retirees?

If governments rack up debt to support their senior citizens, inflation may be here to stay As the world’s population crosses 8 billion, it’s getting older. On average, the bloom of youth came around 1970, when the median age of the world was roughly 21; by 2100, that figure will have climbed to 41 or 42. Forty is, of course, the new 20⁠—but this number is just an average. Many countries, particularly in Africa, will be younger, but the world’s most...

Trends in State and Local Pension Funds

By Oliver Giesecke & Joshua D. Rauh Unfunded public pension obligations represent the largest liability for state and local governments in the United States. As of fiscal year 2021, the total reported unfunded liabilities of these plans is $1.076 trillion. In contrast, the market value of the unfunded liability is approximately $6.501 trillion. As a result, the reported funding ratio of 82.5% falls to 43.8% under a market-based valuation. The market values reflect the fact that accrued pension promises are...

September 2022

UK. What policies will Liz Truss pursue as Britain’s new prime minister?

Truss set out a series of proposals during Tory leadership contest, but what can and will she deliver in office? The policy focus of a Truss prime ministership will, inevitably, be largely a work in progress, given she is taking office amid a hugely turbulent economic period. But during a long leadership campaign the new PM has set out a series of proposals and plans for government: Taxation and cost of living Truss’s clear economic priority is to cut taxes, a move...

August 2022

Retirement Security: Recent Efforts by Other Countries to Expand Plan Coverage and Facilitate Savings

By GAO Ensuring retirement income security for the aging U.S. workforce presents many challenges. People are increasingly responsible for their retirement planning, and as they live longer, they may outlive their savings. We reviewed steps other countries have taken to promote retirement plan savings. International experts informed us of several efforts, including auto-enrollment—which can increase plan participation for eligible workers but may not reach others, such as part-time or self-employed workers. Our review of these and other efforts can inform U.S. policymakers...

Recessions and Retirement: New Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Courtney Coile & Haiyi Zhang The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the US labor market, leading to an unprecedented loss of 22 million jobs in March and April 2020. Evidence from past recessions indicates that economic downturns are typically associated with an increase in retirements. In this study, we revisit the relationship between recessions and retirement in the COVID-19 era, using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) supplemented by other data on economic and COVID conditions. We find that higher...

Social Protection for the Informal Economy. Operational Lessons for Developing Countries in Africa and Beyond

By Melis Guven, Himanshi Jain, & Clement Joubert The informal economy in Africa is large and diverse, and it is the main source of employment in the region. It is projected to grow and create more jobs. The informal economy is well established in the region, but it also faces a host of development challenges. It is characterized by low human capital and productivity compared with the formal economy and is typically associated with limited access to resources such as electricity, finance,...

July 2022

Getting Older But Not Poorer

By David Amaglobeli, Era Dabla-Norris & Vitor Gaspar Unless you live in France, you might not think recent mass strikes over the proposed pension reforms in that country have anything to do with you. But given how fast demographics are changing around the world, that would be a mistake. If you live in Europe and your parents are getting ready to retire at the age of 65 (the statutory retirement age in many countries), you should know that today there are,...

Old Age Pensions and Social Security Today: Need to Introduce ‘Time Bank’ for the Unmet Social Needs of the Elderly in Uganda

By Kibs Boaz Muhanguzi World over, many programs have been put in place to ensure reasonable welfare and relevance of the elderly senior citizens in the community. Out of these diverse programs, pensions and social security fund, and Social Assistance Grants for the Elderly (SAGE) are common. Of recent, the introduction of time banks; a non-financial, barter system of exchange, with the aim of ensuring access to the unmet social needs of the elderly people in the community has emerged....

June 2022

Aging People, Aging Places: Experiences, Opportunities, and Challenges of Growing Older in Canada

By Maxwell Hartt, Samantha Biglieri, Mark W. Rosenberg & Sarah E. Nelson How well do the places where we live support the wellbeing of older adults? The Canadian population is growing older and is reshaping the nation’s economic, social and cultural future. However, the built and social environments of many communities, neighbourhoods and cities have not been designed to help Canadians age well. Bringing together academic research, practitioner reflections and personal narratives from older adults across Canada, this cutting-edge text...

Priorities for social security. Trends, challenges and solutions

By Issa The International Social Security Association (ISSA) draws its value, strength and dynamism from a global membership of national institutions that administer the main social security programmes of their countries. This gives the Association a unique and privileged vantage point from which to analyse key policy issues and emerging challenges in social security, and the many innovative responses and creative solutions to these. For its 2020–2022 Programme and Budget, the ISSA defined four priority areas to be addressed during the...