A study of the history of public superannuation schemes reveals that, in general, steady progress has been, and is being, made; there is, however, little consistency as between various branches of the public service. There have already been many post-war developments, in which there is some evidence of a common pattern, yet in which there are many startling divergencies. In view of the ever-increasing scope of the public services, it is surely time to give serious consideration to the question of standardization of such schemes; and the object of this paper is to suggest possible future developments along these lines.