December 2024
10Dec

Belgium. Staggering Pension Gap Revealed: Shocking Differences Between Civil Servants and Workers

The ongoing formation of a new federal government in Belgium, led by Bart De Wever, is facing significant challenges. A key issue at the forefront is the pension reform aimed at achieving substantial savings. As Stijn Baert highlighted on ‘De tafel van Gert’, the disparity between public and private sector pensions raises questions. How can this gap be addressed effectively? Fast Answer: Belgium’s pension reform discussions reveal a stark contrast between public and private sector pensions, with civil servants earning significantly more. This...

December 10, 2024
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May 2024
03May

Pensioen SPECULOOS: Lessons from Brazil for Belgium

By Arun Muralidhar A commonly-accepted retirement goal for a healthy pension is for it to sustain the relatively higher standard-of-living of the latter part of one’s working life throughout retirement. A recent innovation implemented by Brazil in January 2023 might provide a solution to the pension challenges faced by Belgium, and more importantly, satisfy the key goals identified by Belgium Government. We recommend Belgium create and issue an innovative new bond – SPECial ULtra-long Obligatie (PensiOen) Salarisstook (SPECULOOS), known previously...

May 3, 2024
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January 2024
19Jan

Social Security and Inequality in Belgium

By Giulia Klinges, Alain Jousten & Mathieu Lefebvre Over the years, the Belgian social security system has undergone substantial reform with a prime focus on increasing older worker labor force participation. The paper explores the effect of past reforms on inequality in old age. We distinguish two separate effects: The mechanical effect considers the change in inequality and expected benefit levels due to the reforms for a fixed retirement age distribution. The behavioral effect accounts for the endogenous change caused...

January 19, 2024
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12Jan

The Fiscal Cost of Aging in Belgium: Pensions and Healthcare

By Jean-Jacques Hallaert Belgium faces a fiscal consolidation challenge at a time when the fiscal cost of aging—primarily related to pension and health outlays—is mounting. Pension spending will increase relatively fast unless a combination of measures related to pension generosity and retirement eligibility are put in place. Potential efficiency gains are large in the health sector and could absorb part of the fiscal and reorganization costs related to an aging population. Source SSRN

January 12, 2024
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July 2023
11Jul

Belgian government agrees on pension reform to receive EU recovery funds

The Belgian government agreed on pension reform on Monday, paving the way for the long-awaited release of part of the EU recovery funds the European Commission had tied to the reform. On Monday, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open VLD/Renew Europe) and Pensions Minister Karine Lalieux (PS/S&D) announced the long-awaited agreement on Twitter, which completes the one reached a year ago and aims to ensure the pension system’s financial sustainability amid an ageing population. According to the government, various measures will...

July 11, 2023
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May 2019

09May

UN partners with KLP to Identify Financial Investments At Risk

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and KLP, Norway's largest pension company, announced today a partnership to geo-tag financial investments against vulnerability to disaster and climate risk. The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mami Mizutori, said: “This is a major breakthrough in the world of finance and investment. It is clear recognition of the need to include disaster risk in the investment portfolios of any self-respecting enterprise seeking to avoid exposure to climate and...

May 9, 2019
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December 2018

10Dec

Financing decent pensions: a challenge for European states

Some 70,000 people took to the streets of Brussels on 28 May 2018. And tens of thousands demonstrated once again in several Belgian cities on 2 October. The trade union mobilisation against the reform of the pension system in Belgium attracted nationwide attention. But this protest movement did not emerge from nowhere. It is, rather, the culmination of many years of discontent. The federal government undertook to reform the entire pension system, to cope with Belgium’s ever-ageing population, from the...

December 10, 2018
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June 2018

04Jun

Towards an Equitable and Sustainable Points System. A Proposal for Pension Reform in Belgium

By Erik Schokkaert (Catholic University of Leuven (KUL)), Pierre Devolder (Catholic University of Louvain), Jean Hindriks (University of London - School of Economics and Finance) & Frank Vandenbroucke (University of Amsterdam) We describe the points system as proposed by the Belgian Commission for Pension Reform 2020–2040. Intragenerational equity can be realised through the allocation of points within a cohort. The intergenerational distribution is determined by fixing the value of a point for the newly retired and a sustainability parameter for...

June 4, 2018
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