The Single-tier Pension

The Single-tier Pension
Author: Great Britain: Department for Work and Pensions
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 110
Release: 2013-01-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780101852821

This paper outlines the Government's detailed proposition for state pension reform. It follows a consultation on the proposals set out in "A state pension of the 21st century" (2011, Cm. 8053, ISBN 9780101805322). There was consensus that the state pension system needed to be simplified and the aim is to merge the state second pension with the basic state pension, to create one flat-rate payment. The new flat-rate state pension will start in April 2017 at the earliest. The weekly payment will be £144, plus inflation rises between now and 2017. Chapters in this paper cover: the context for reform; the single-tier pension; managing the end of contracting-out; the transition to the single-tier pension; sustainability and assumptions; longer-term sustainability - state pension age. Annexes provide: a brief history of the state pension; faster flat rating - assessment against principles for reform; features of the single-tier pension and specific transitional arrangements; an example pension statement; proposed timetable for implementing the increase in state pension age to 67.

The Single-tier State Pension

The Single-tier State Pension
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Work and Pensions Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 168
Release: 2013-04-04
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780215055552

This report welcomes the improvements in retirement income that the new Single-tier State Pension will bring. However, the key to the policy's successful implementation lies in the Government informing the public as soon as possible about how it will affect individuals. The Committee criticises the Government for hampering its scrutiny of the proposals. The Government not only imposed an extremely tight timetable, but brought forward the implementation date by a year, after the Committee had completed taking evidence. The Committee says that the Government must work with them to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible and that Defined Benefit pension schemes do not suffer as a result. The Government should also develop and publish a clear explanation of how means-tested support, including passported benefits, will operate under the Single-tier Pension, and the transitional protection that will be put in place. Many women born between 1952 and 1953 believed that they would suffer a double adverse effect on their State Pension income, arising from the increases in their State Pension Age combined with their ineligibility for the Single-tier Pension, if it was introduced in 2017 as set out in the White Paper. The Government should clarify the position. Some women did not build up their own NI record because they had an expectation that they would be able to rely on their husband's contributions to give them entitlement to a Basic State Pension. The Government should assess and publish the cost of allowing women in this position who are within 15 years of State Pension Age to retain this right

Assessing Chile's Pension System: Challenges and Reform Options

Assessing Chile's Pension System: Challenges and Reform Options
Author: Samuel Pienknagura
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 52
Release: 2021-09-10
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 151359611X

Chile’s pension system came under close scrutiny in recent years. This paper takes stock of the adequacy of the system and highlights its challenges. Chile’s defined contribution system was quite influential when introduced, and was taken as an example by other countries. However, it is now delivering low replacement rates relative to OECD peers, as its parameters did not adapt over time to changing demographics and global returns, while informality persists in the labor market. In the absence of reforms, the system’s inability to deliver adequate outcomes for a large share of participants will continue to magnify, as demographic trends and low global interest rates will continue to reduce replacement rates. In addition, recent legislation allowing for pension savings withdrawals to counter the effects from the COVID-19 pandemic, is projected to further reduce replacement rates and increase fiscal costs. A substantial improvement in replacement rates is feasible, via a reform that raises contribution rates and the retirement age, coupled with policies that increases workers’ contribution density.

A state pension for the 21st century

A state pension for the 21st century
Author: Great Britain: Department for Work and Pensions
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 60
Release: 2011-04-04
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780101805322

In this document the Government is looking at options for delivering a simpler and fairer state pension which rewards those who save for their retirement and is sustainable for future generations. The consultation is on two broad options for reform of the state pension, and the most appropriate mechanism for determining future changes to state pension age. The four guiding principles for pension reform are: personal responsibility; fairness; simplicity; affordability and sustainability. The options for reform of the state pension are: (1) faster flat rate or (2) a single tier pension. Currently the basic state pension is a flat-rate payment of £97.65 a week and the state second pension is partly flat rate and partly linked to earnings, such that higher earners receive a higher state pension. Option 1 would accelerate reforms so that the state second pension becomes fully flat rate by 2020 instead of the early 2030s. At the end of the transition those with a full contribution record - about 30 years - would receive the full pension, in two tiers, currently estimated at about £140 a week. Option 2 is a more radical approach, combining the two existing pensions into one single-tier pension. Future pensioners with at least 30 qualifying years would receive the same flat-rate pension currently estimated at £140 a week. This payment would be set above the basic level of support provided by Pension Credit. There are also two options for changing state pension age: through a formula linked to life expectancy; through a regular review.

Pension Reform

Pension Reform
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Work and Pensions Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 459
Release: 2006-07-22
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 021503001X

Pension Reform : Fourth report of session 2005-06, Vol. 2: Oral and written Evidence

Privatizing Social Security

Privatizing Social Security
Author: Martin Feldstein
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 484
Release: 2008-04-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0226241823

This volume represents the most important work to date on one of the pressing policy issues of the moment: the privatization of social security. Although social security is facing enormous fiscal pressure in the face of an aging population, there has been relatively little published on the fundamentals of essential reform through privatization. Privatizing Social Security fills this void by studying the methods and problems involved in shifting from the current system to one based on mandatory saving in individual accounts. "Timely and important. . . . [Privatizing Social Security] presents a forceful case for a radical shift from the existing unfunded, pay-as-you-go single national program to a mandatory funded program with individual savings accounts. . . . An extensive analysis of how a privatized plan would work in the United States is supplemented with the experiences of five other countries that have privatized plans." —Library Journal "[A] high-powered collection of essays by top experts in the field."—Timothy Taylor, Public Interest

German Pension Reform

German Pension Reform
Author: Christina Benita Wilke
Publisher: Peter Lang
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2009
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9783631588512

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.

Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World

Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World
Author: Axel Börsch-Supan
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 481
Release: 2021-03-05
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 022667424X

This ninth phase of the International Social Security project, which studies the experiences of twelve developed countries, examines the effects of public pension reform on employment at older ages. In the past two decades, men’s labor force participation at older ages has increased, reversing a long-term pattern of decline; participation rates for older women have increased dramatically as well. While better health, more education, and changes in labor-supply behavior of married couples may have affected this trend, these factors alone cannot explain the magnitude of the employment increase or its large variation across countries. The studies in this volume explore how financial incentives to work at older ages have evolved as a result of public pension reforms since 1980 and how these changes have affected retirement behavior. Utilizing a common template to analyze the developments across countries, the findings suggest that social security reforms have strengthened the financial returns to working at older ages and that these enhanced financial incentives have contributed to the rise in late-life employment.