Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- List of Boxes
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- PART ONE
- PART TWO
- 6 The Causes of Decline
- 7 Policies to Address the Decline of the Traditional Pension
- 8 Summary and Conclusions
- Appendix 1 Ten Country Profiles
- Appendix 2 Mathematical Treatments and Derivations
- Glossary
- References
- Index
7 - Policies to Address the Decline of the Traditional Pension
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- List of Boxes
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- PART ONE
- PART TWO
- 6 The Causes of Decline
- 7 Policies to Address the Decline of the Traditional Pension
- 8 Summary and Conclusions
- Appendix 1 Ten Country Profiles
- Appendix 2 Mathematical Treatments and Derivations
- Glossary
- References
- Index
Summary
Introduction
This chapter has two parts. The first and longer part addresses the policy implications of the decline of the traditional pension. The second part evaluates recent reforms of first-tier coverage and briefly discusses the need for reform of employer-provided public-sector pensions.
The first part begins by considering how the traditional pension might be partly revived by reducing its scale or by making changes to its structure. It then examines the potential role of hybrids as alternatives. With the analysis presented in Chapter 2 of the consequences of do-it-yourself longevity insurance as a benchmark, this chapter then assesses the potential value of two “add-ons” to defined-contribution plans developed in the United States that aim to address the shortcomings of these plans at the distribution phase. It also discusses the issues surrounding the setting of defaults on the annuitization of the account balances of defined-contribution plans.
The preceding chapters have chronicled the pressures assailing the traditional pension in the Anglo-Saxon countries, and the growing role of defined-contribution plans in the others. The decline of the traditional pension has so far been confined to the private sector. However, the finances of many public-sector employer-provided pensions have become seriously unbalanced, and the political pressures to freeze or close these plans may intensify if they come to be seen as an unjustified privilege of government employees.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Decline of the Traditional PensionA Comparative Study of Threats to Retirement Security, pp. 179 - 204Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010