India is ageing. One response of Indian policy makers has been introduction of the New Pension Scheme (NPS), a defined contribution pension scheme which is mandatory for civil servants and voluntary for the rest of the population. Given the size of the target population, even if take-up is modest, NPS savings may soon provide huge amounts of capital to India's economy. However, challenges are abound. What governance structure will best achieve the ultimate policy goal of serving the needs of savers? What business processes and information technology design will serve members best? How effectively will the NPS attack the problem of old-age poverty? In this book, a multi-disciplinary international team, comprising of economists, lawyers, pension management experts, and capital market experts, explore these and other questions. The book proposes significant legal, regulatory, and governance reforms for the NPS and other existing pension schemes, as well. It finds that current NPS business practices cannot keep pace with potential growth of the system and makes suggestions on how to take better advantage of information technology. Based on review of experience elsewhere and state-of-the-art economic-demographic modelling, it warns that the NPS in its current form does not address the retirement income needs of the lifelong very poor, suggesting that it is only one in a range of responses needed to cope with the challenges of population ageing in India.

India is ageing. One response of Indian policy makers has been introduction of the New Pension Scheme (NPS), a defined contribution pension scheme which is mandatory for civil servants and voluntary for the rest of the population. Given the size of the target population, even if take up is modest, NPS savings may soon provide huge amounts of capital to the Indian economy. However, challenges are abound. What governance structure will best achieve the ultimate policy goal of serving the needs of savers? What business processes and information technology design will serve members best? How effectively will the NPS attack the problem of old-age poverty? In this book, a multi-disciplinary international team, comprised of economists, lawyers, pension management experts, and capital market experts, attempt to answer these and other questions. The book proposes significant legal, regulatory, and governance reforms for the NPS and other existing pension schemes, as well. It finds that current NPS business practices cannot keep pace with potential growth of the system and makes suggestions on how to take better advantage of information technology. Based on review of experience elsewhere and state-of-the-art economic-demographic modelling, it warns that the NPS in its current form does not address the retirement income needs of the lifelong very poor, suggesting that it is only one in a range of responses needed to cope with the challenges of population ageing in India.

The Greek pension system has been costly, complex, and distortive, which has contributed to Greece’s fiscal problems and discouraged labor force participation. Several attempts to reform the system faltered due to lack of implementation, pushback by vested interests, and court rulings leading to reversals. A series of reforms introduced throughout 2015–17 unified benefit and contribution rules, removed several distortions and reduced fragmentation and costs. If fully implemented throughout the long-term, these reforms can go a long way towards enhancing the pension system affordability. However, reforms faced setbacks and fell short of creating stronger incentives to build long contribution histories, to deliver sustainable growth by improving the fiscal policy mix, and to ensure fairness and equitable burden sharing across generations and interest groups. Policy priorities should aim towards fully implementing the 2015–17 reforms and complementing them with additional reforms to address these remaining objectives.

Population aging poses two major challenges for Asian policy makers: (i) sustaining rapid economic growth in the face of less favorable demographic conditions; and (ii) providing affordable, adequate, sustainable old-age income support for a large and growing elderly population. This book explores the second issue by examining the pension systems of eight countries in East and Southeast Asia: the People's Republic of China, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam. It also puts forward both country-specific and region-wide reforms to address two critical areas of pension reform, namely, fairness and sustainability.

The German pension system was the first formal pension system in the world, designed by Bismarck nearly 120 years ago. It has been very successful in providing high and reliable pension levels at reasonable contribution rates. While the generosity of the German pension system is considered a great social achievement, negative incentive effects of past reforms in the 1970s and 1980s and population aging are threatening the very core of the system. This has led to fundamental pension reforms since 1992. Based on a detailed simulation model of the German pension system, this book provides a thorough assessment of the system and its reforms. It shows that the latest reforms have put the system back onto a stable path and moved it from the old monolithic towards a multi-pillar system.

Old age income support will be one of the biggest social and economic challenges facing Asia in the twenty-first century. The growing spotlight on old age income support is largely due to exceptionally rapid population aging which is fundamentally reshaping Asia’s demographic profile. A young continent reaping the demographic dividend of a large youthful workforce is giving way to a greying continent where the ratio of retirees to workers is on the rise. In contrast to industrialized countries, most Asian countries do not yet have mature, well-functioning pension systems. As a result, they are ill prepared to provide economic security for the large number of retirees who loom on the region’s horizon. This book takes a close look at the pension systems of eight countries in East and Southeast Asia – namely, China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – which encompass a wide range of income and development levels. The book provides a comprehensive overview of pension systems in the eight countries, including an in-depth diagnosis to identify their major weaknesses and shortcomings. On the basis of the diagnosis, the book sets forth concrete and specific policy options for reforming Asia’s pension systems. Many policy options for reform are country-specific. For example, a top priority in China is to extend the pension system to rural areas. At the same time, a number of reforms – such as the need to extend coverage – resonate across the entire region. Appropriate reform will enable the region’s pension systems to deliver affordable, adequate and sustainable old-age economic security.

Pension reform is high on the agenda of many advanced and emerging market economies, for many reasons. First, public pensions often constitute a large share of government expenditure. Second, population aging means that reforms would be needed just to keep pension spending from rising in the future. Third, in many economies, low or falling pension coverage will leave large segments of the population without adequate income in old age and at risk of falling into poverty. Although a number of studies have assessed the effects of pension reforms on fiscal sustainability, a systematic analysis of equity issues in pension systems—and how countries have grappled with these issues—has yet to be undertaken. This book brings together the latest research on equity issues related to pension systems and pension reforms in the post-crisis world. Some of the key issues covered include: the effect of pension systems on intergenerational equity and the impact of pension reforms on poverty, the effects of pension reform measures on fiscal sustainability and equity, and the fiscal consequences of achieving different equity goals. It also presents country case studies. The volume provides a rich menu of material to assist policymakers and academic audiences seeking to understand the latest research in this area, as well as the lessons and challenges for the design of reforms.

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

This book moves beyond technical studies of pension systems by addressing the political economy of pension reform in different contexts. It provides insights into key issues related to pension policy and its developmental implications, drawing on selected country studies in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America.

Income insecurity in old age is likely to be one key cause of increased poverty in South Asia, and setting up systems to avert this crisis should be a central public policy goal of each country. Several countries in the region are therefore beginning to evaluate a range of policy options for pension reforms. Given the remarkable similarity of each country in terms of demography, labor markets, and political structures, lessons from both success and failure in pension policy design and implementation are highly portable from one country to another within the region. This publication proposes the establishment of a South Asia Pension Forum that is intended to foster and support intensive policy analysis, research, and consultation on pension reforms and social security within the region.