March 2023

Pension Provision in Thailand

By Robert Palacios & Himanshi Jain This report documents the current state of pension provision in Thailand and options for reform that would increase the adequacy and sustainability of the pension system. While the focus here is on income support, the welfare of the elderly depends on many other government policies ranging from labor market policies to aged care and health services. It is also important to assess the pension system in terms of its broader impact on fiscal sustainability...

January 2023

Pensions Benefit More than Retirees, Says Report

Pensions obviously benefit retirees, their dependents and their beneficiaries. But while it may be less obvious, pensions also benefit society writ large — to the tune of trillions, with a T. The National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) every two years updates its Pensionomics analysis that measures the economic “ripple effect” of payments from defined benefit plans. In “Pensionomics 2023: Measuring the Economic Impact of DB Pension Expenditures,” the NIRS quantifies the broader benefits of DB plans; namely, the economic...

Towards construction of comprehensive care systems in Latin America and the Caribbean: ELEMENTS FOR IMPLEMENTATION

By ECLAC The Latin American and Caribbean region is experiencing an unprecedented economic and social crisis. The effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic have spread to all spheres of human life, hurting economies, changing the way we interact, and causing extensive societal changes. The crisis has highlighted and exacerbated structural gaps, deepening pre-existing inequalities and exposing the vulnerabilities of political, economic, and social protection systems. The onset of the crisis magnified the structural challenges of gender inequality, reversing much...

UN report calls for re-thinking social protection as the world ages

The World Social Report 2023 calls for concrete measures to support the greying global population, amidst escalating pension and healthcare costs. Population ageing is a defining global trend of our time, according to the study, published by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). Countries can reap the benefits by giving everyone the chance to grow older in good health by promoting equal opportunities from birth. “Together, we can address today’s inequalities for the benefit of tomorrow’s generations, managing the...

December 2022

New World Bank Financing Will Expand and Strengthen Egypt’s Flagship Social Protection Program

The World Bank announced yesterday US$500 million in financing to expand and strengthen Egypt’s flagship Social Safety Net Program, also known as Takaful and Karama. The new financing marks a third phase of collaboration between the World Bank and the Government of Egypt to support the establishment of an efficient and effective cash transfer program and to introduce beneficiaries to interventions that generate sustainable incomes and help people to graduate out of poverty. Investing in human capital is integral to...

November 2022

Older Persons’ Rights to Social Security

By Alan Gutterman Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that “[e]veryone, as a member of society, has the right to social security”, and Article 9 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (“ICESCR”) calls on States to “recognize the right of everyone to social security, including social insurance”. In its General Comment No. 19 on the right to social security released in 2008, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (“CESCR”) explained...

October 2022

Out of Sight, Out of Mind: The inclusion and use of data on older people in the humanitarian programme cycle

By HelpAge International Humanitarian principles and basic human rights afford everyone the right to safe and dignified access to assistance and protection on an equal basis. Older people are among those most at risk in humanitarian crises, yet older people’s rights are frequently denied, and they receive little targeted attention from governments, donors, or humanitarian agencies. HelpAge International’s 2018 study, ‘If not now, when?’, highlights significant failings in how the humanitarian system includes older people when responding to crises. A...

The politics and economics of pension privatization in latin america

By Raúl Madrir This research note seeks to explain 'lvhya large nUl11ber of Latin Atnerican countries have privatized their pension systel11s in recent years. It argues that the privatization schelnes are a response to the severe capital shortages that have plagued their countries intennittently in recent years rather than to the financial problelns facing son1e of the pension systelns. The likelihood of pension privatization, 1 argue, is determined in large part by the vulnerability of countries to capital shortages as...

German cabinet approves €300 energy relief payment for pensioners

The German cabinet has approved a one-time payment in December for pensioners to provide relief for rising energy bills. The €300 payment is to be paid out by December 15th, Labour Minister Hubertus Heil, of the Social Democrats, said on Wednesday following the cabinet meeting. The cabinet also decided on a higher upper limit for people with so-called midi-jobs, which is a type of marginal employment in between a mini-job (which is generally exempt from taxes and social contributions) and...

Pension funds in sub-Saharan Africa

By Owen Nyang`oro & Githinji Njenga The population structure the world over is going through a demographic shift, and the elderly proportion is projected to increase with population growth. This change is a matter of concern for sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, where the majority of the people are young and the rates of both population growth and unemployment are high. A good pension system provides elderly assistance and is a source of savings for long-term investment. The pension systems in...