February 2020

Millennial Generation: Information on the Economic Status of Millennial Households Compared to Previous Generations

By Charles A. Jeszeck, Michael J. Collins, Jessica Rider, Kathleen McQueeney, Layla Moughari Recent research indicates that, across three key measures, economic mobility in the United States is limited. Specifically, the Millennial generation (those born between 1982 and 2000) might not have the same opportunity as previous generations had to fare better economically than their parents. According to studies GAO reviewed, the share of people making more money than their parents at the same age (absolute mobility) has declined...

Australia. Jobs drought for older workers increases risk of ‘pension poverty’

Older Australians are missing out on job opportunities and seeing their hopes for a secure and dignified retirement evaporate, Labor leader Anthony Albanese said. “Today, over 170,000 Australians aged between 55 and 64 are on unemployment benefits just when they should be building their nest egg,” Mr Albanese told the Queensland Media Club on Wednesday. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show that the number of older Australians out of work has increased over the past five years, despite...

A call to let pensioners work in Australia

The Retirement Income Review should consider a simpler and more flexible system which allows pensioners to work without being punished, according to National Seniors Australia, the peak consumer organisation representing older Australians. National Seniors has suggested this reform be examined as part of its submission to the Review. Chief Advocate Ian Henschke says the Review’s Panel should look at other pension and retirement income systems and import ways to make the Australian system simpler and more flexible. “There are...

Gig economy sucking super savings dry

By  Ally Selby  It's causing everyday Aussies to retire with much less, forcing the country's taxpayers to carry the added costs, according to a Treasury submission by the Actuaries Institute. I n a paper submitted to the Treasury's Retirement Income Review Panel, the Institute warned of the new risks to Australia's superannuation system. "The gig economy... creates a new set of problems with respect to the superannuation guarantee (SG) system," it said. "It provides people with different types of jobs...

Pensions and Household Savings: Cross-Country Heterogeneity in Europe

By Anna d’Addio, Muriel Roger, Frederique Savignac We address the question of whether the heterogeneity in savings is partly due to differences in pension wealth across individuals and across countries, using a European harmonised wealth survey (HFCS) combined with estimates of pension wealth (OECD). First, we find significant displacement effects of mandatory pension wealth on non-pension financial wealth at the mean, and a statistically significant crowd-out estimate on the probability of owning real estate property. Second, there is heterogeneity...

Demography and Provisions for Retirement: The Pension Composition, a Behavioral Approach

By B.M.S. van Praag, J. Hop Pensions may be provided for in a modern society by a mix of several methods, namely by voluntary individual savings, mandatory fully-funded occupational pension systems, mandatory social security financed by pay-as-you-go, and old-fashioned hoarding in cash.Here, we call the specific mixture of the four systems the pension composition. We assume that individual workers decide on their own individual savings, that the fully-funded occupational system is decided upon by the age cohort of the...

January 2020

How the Longevity Project Is Reimagining Our Longer Lives

As life expectancies are growing and the 100-year-life is becoming more common, how can Americans, the U.S. government and employers best prepare for the challenges and opportunities of longevity? Meet the Longevity Project, the new initiative designed to come up with some answers. The Longevity Project, developed in collaboration with the Stanford Center on Longevity (its lead content creator), is generating research and engaging in public conversation on the many impacts of longer lives. It just released a poll...

Australia. More pensioners are taking up part-time work to avoid the threat of pension poverty

More pensioners than ever are having to work part-time just to get by according to new research, with nearly 5 per cent of people on the pension now doing paid work. Key points: New research shows that a growing number of pensioners are needing to work part-time Women and divorcees are among those most affected Seniors Australia says tax changes are needed to not penalise pensioners who work Cost of living and inequality researcher Paul Blacklow, of the University...

Germany needs 500,000 new immigrants every year

Germany is grappling with a ticking demographic time bomb. The Local spoke with FDP politician Christian Dürr who says immigration is the key to the country's future. As a society, we are living longer – and that's a good thing. But there is a lot of debate over how to stop Germany's welfare system buckling under the pressure of an ageing population. The Local spoke with Christian Dürr, deputy chairman of the pro-business Free Democrats' (FDP) parliamentary group, who recently wrote a guest...

February 2017