By Fajrin Andi Muhamad Pratama Indonesia’s main old-age insurance program, BPJS Ketenagakerjaan, is built almost entirely around formal employment-yet three in five Indonesian workers are informal, and only a small fraction of them are ever enrolled. National statistics capture the size of that gap well; they say almost nothing about what people actually do instead. […]

By Asli Demirgüç-Kunt, Leora F. Klapper & Georgios A. Panos Countries around the world face a retirement crisis brought on by aging populations, declining birthrates, and fiscal shortfalls. As a result, policy makers increasingly seek to understand retirement savings patterns, a crucial component of the safety net for the elderly. Drawing on the 2014 Global […]

By Puren Demirel This study reviews the labor-market effects of policies aimed at regularizing irregular migrants, with particular emphasis on amnesty programs and access to legal employment. Drawing on the existing literature and country experiences, it examines the mechanisms through which regularization may affect migrants, local workers, employers, and the broader economy. The analysis highlights […]

Foreign nationals would be excluded from most benefits under a Reform UK government, the party has said. The ban, part of a proposed overhaul of Britain’s benefits system, would include European Union (EU) nationals with settled status in the UK, meaning a renegotiation of the UK’s Brexit deal with the EU. In a speech on […]

Malaysia’s state-owned pension fund, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), recorded investment income of 57.50 billion ringgit (14.16 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2026, up 48 percent from a year earlier, helped by strong global equity markets, the fund said Monday. Investment income for the second quarter also rose 44 percent year-on-year to […]

The consultancy said the overall pensioner poverty rate, measured on a consistent basis, rose from 15.7% in 2012-13 to 18.6% in 2023-24. Poverty among pensioner couples has remained relatively flat over the period, but rates have climbed sharply among single pensioners, particularly those who are divorced or have never married. More recent corrected figures from […]

Every month-end, Mr Mxolisi Dube (72) from Makokoba suburb in Bulawayo arrives at his local bank before sunrise. Long before the doors open, he joins dozens of fellow pensioners waiting patiently to collect what should be the reward for a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice. Clutching a worn leather wallet, the retired foundry worker […]