Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index 2018
The provision of financial security in retirement is critical for both individuals and societies as most countries are now grappling with the social, economic and financial effects of ageing populations. The major causes of this demographic shift are declining birth rates and increasing longevity. Inevitably these developments are placing financial pressure on existing retirement income systems. Yet, a comparison of the different pension systems around the world is not straightforward. As the OECD (2017c) comments: “Retirement-income regimes are diverse and often involve a number of different programmes. Classifying pension systems and different retirement-income schemes is consequentially difficult.”