Description:
The reform of public pension systems
and, more generally, the review of old-age income support
are on the reform agenda worldwide. The reform discussion is
more intense in countries where population aging is well
advanced, including the member countries of the Organization
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), much of
Latin America, China, Russia, and the former transition
economies of Southeastern Europe (SEE). But developing
countries in the global South are also awakening to the
challenges of aging and old-age income support in view of
changing family structures, urbanization, and migration.
Over 80 percent of the increase in the numbers of persons
age 65 and older up to 2050 will take place in countries
with current per capita incomes of US$1,000 and below.
Whereas the North grew rich before becoming old, the South
risks becoming old before becoming rich. The remainder of
the chapter attempts to substantiate this point. The next
section briefly describes aging and its fiscal implications
in the light of demographic developments in the countries of
Southeastern Europe. There follows an outline of the drivers
of pension reform that go beyond population aging and have
to be understood when choosing among reform options.
Subsequent sections take up recent international reform
trends and lessons and underline key points concerning the
labor market and financial market reforms needed to support
pension reform. The chapter ends with some concluding remarks.