August 2024
30Aug

Rethinking Social Insurance for Self-Employed and Gig Workers

When designing a product, understanding the customers’ needs and preferences is essential. A case in point of the importance of tailoring product designs to customers is the “sachet revolution” in India. In the 1970s and 80s, some brands that sold daily essential products such as shampoos sought to target a large customer base who, at the time, could not afford these products: lower-income households and the rural market. To cater to the needs of low-income and rural households, these...

August 30, 2024
Books, Labor Market, ,
Read more...
30Aug

Kenya launches plan to promote retirement benefits sector

Kenya on Thursday launched a strategic plan aimed at promoting an inclusive and sustainable retirement benefits sector. Chris Kiptoo, principal secretary in the National Treasury and Economic Planning, told journalists in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, that the five-year Retirement Benefits Authority Strategic Plan aims to grow the country's retirement savings from 1.7 trillion shillings (about 13.2 billion U.S. dollars) to 24.8 billion dollars by 2029. "The blueprint also details steps to expand pension coverage from the current 26 percent of...

August 30, 2024
News, ,
Read more...
19Aug

Low financial literacy leaves Kenya’s pension coverage at 26%

By MARTIN MWITA   Low financial literacy and awareness among the Kenyan population is to blame for the low pension coverage in the country which remains at a low of 26 per cent, industry players now say. A huge number of Kenyans also work in the informal sector, where pension schemes are either unavailable or underutilised. Without targeted interventions, these individuals remain vulnerable, lacking the financial safety net that pensions provide, the Association of Pension Trustees and Administrators of Kenya (APTAK) has noted. The association...

August 19, 2024
News, OP Ed, Op-Ed, ,
Read more...

July 2024
31Jul

Kenya. Court Rules Retired Governors Not Eligible for Pension Benefits

Governors suffered a blow after the court ruled in favour of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), in a case filed by the Council of Governors (CoG) over a pension row. The High Court ruled that retiring governors and deputy governors at the county level are not entitled to a Defined Benefit Pension Scheme similar to one enjoyed by State officers at the national government level. This judgement follows a petition that had been filed by the Council of Governors (COG) against the...

July 31, 2024
News, ,
Read more...
25Jul

Japan to abolish gender-specific survivor’s pension benefits, introduce fixed-term payments

The Japanese welfare ministry is set to revise the survivor's welfare pension for men and women in their 20s to 50s without children, changing it to a five-year fixed-term benefit from the current gender-specific rule where the widow receives the benefit indefinitely if she is 30 or older, while the widower cannot receive payments unless he is 55 or older. The planned adjustment will be made over several decades to ensure that current recipients won't face a disadvantage. The ministry...

July 25, 2024
News, , , ,
Read more...
12Jul

UK. State pensioners issued major update over DWP starting to ‘means testing’

State pensioners have been told the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) State Pensions payments "can't be means tested". A former DWP employee says means-testing will never happen due to the complexity of the contributory benefit. The insider told the Daily Record: “What is overlooked is the fact that people pay cash into the State Pension scheme in the form of Voluntary Contributions. So you are not going to pay cash into a scheme unless you are entitled to the payment of...

July 12, 2024
News, ,
Read more...
09Jul

US. Employer group urges Congress to increase retirement plan awareness for gig workers

In response to a request for information on June 5 from Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, for ways to allow gig workers access to retirement benefits, the American Benefits Council (ABC) has responded. The employer group sent a letter, including suggestions introduced in the SECURE 2.0. legislation, as well as pooled employers plans (PEPs) established by Congress. "The vast majority of independent workers prefer alternative work arrangements to traditional...

July 9, 2024
News, ,
Read more...
08Jul

America’s pension system gets C+ rating, falling behind other countries

America’s pension system is failing to make the grade, according to a recent report from the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis. “The United States’ pension system consistently ranks below other comparable countries, getting a barely passing grade of C+ in both the 2022 and 2023 Melbourne Mercer Pension Index rankings,” according to SCEPA. Australia, Denmark and the Netherlands each scored grades of B+ or higher. The difference between the United States and those other countries is that mandatory contributions and simple pension management...

July 8, 2024
News, ,
Read more...

June 2024
07Jun

Economic & Budgetary Projections for the EU Member States (2022-2070)

By Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs European Economy Institutional Papers are important reports analysing the economic situation and economic developments prepared by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, which serve to underpin economic policy-making by the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament. Views expressed in unofficial documents do not necessarily represent the views of the European Commission. Get the report here

June 7, 2024
Aging, Books, Books, Reports, , , , ,
Read more...

May 2024
15May

Pension Reform in Lebanon: Good Intentions, Uncertain Outcomes

By Haneen Sayed, David Robalino, Ibrahim Muhanna   The passing of Pension Law 319 by Lebanon’s Parliament in December 2023 was a milestone. For decades, the vast majority of the Lebanese people have lived with little or no income security in their old age, a situation that has worsened since the economic-financial crisis that began in 2019. Approximately 80 percent of the Lebanese population has no formal pension coverage, which forces elderly people to rely on family or other types of informal support. Rapid...

May 15, 2024
News, OP Ed, Op-Ed, ,
Read more...