Towards Better Adequacy and Sustainability A Review of Pension Systems and Pension Reforms in Eastern Partnership Countries

Henrik Huitfeldt

No 131, European Economy - Discussion Papers from Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission

Abstract: This discussion paper reviews the state of play of pension systems and recent reforms in the Eastern Partnership countries and discusses outstanding challenges and options for further reforms. Pension systems in the Eastern Partnership countries are confronted with changing demographics and an ageing population, decreasing formal employment, and a legacy from the Soviet Union with persistent features such as low statutory retirement ages and exemptions and privileges for many different categories of workers. This led to significant difficulties of the pension systems in the region to provide for adequacy of pension benefits and fiscal sustainability. Following the 2008 economic and financial crisis, discussions on more comprehensive pension reforms have gained renewed interest and some reforms have been launched. However, recent reforms have often only addressed parts of the challenges of the pension systems. The focus has been on improving the financial sustainability of the mandatory public pension schemes, often by raising the statutory retirement age. More comprehensive pension reforms, including structural reforms to broaden the base of contributors, would be needed to create sustainable systems with the ability to provide fair and adequate pensions to the old-age population.

JEL-codes: I31 I38 J11 J14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2020-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age and nep-tra
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:euf:dispap:131

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