December 2019

05Dec

Strike paralyses France as unions protest pension overhaul

A nationwide strike brought much of France to a standstill on Thursday as tens of thousands hit the streets to protest a pension overhaul by President Emmanuel Macron, which unions say will force millions of people to work longer or face curtailed benefits. Read also A Look at France’s Heated Debate Over Pensions Trains, metros and buses, as well as some flights, were cancelled while most schools were closed or only assuring daycare services, forcing many parents to find alternatives...

December 5, 2019
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02Dec

French cabinet in Sunday crisis meeting ahead of 5 December strike

The French cabinet has met in a Sunday crisis session convened by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe to discuss tactics in the face of Thursday's nationwide strikes against proposals to reform retirement and pension legislation. With a series of strikes planned in key sectors like transport and teaching, the government has already held a number of meetings to thrash out a common strategy to defend reforms – described as "essential" by President Emmanuel Macron. On Friday, several ministers met to...

December 2, 2019
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November 2019

29Nov

Pension reform in France ‘a response to gilets jaunes’

Controversial pension reforms in France are a direct result of the gilets jaunes' protests, government spokesperson Sibeth Ndiaye has said, prompting outrage from political opponents on social media "This reform is one of the responses to the gilets jaunes' crisis. It is above all one of the responses to the significant injustices that exist in our country," Ms Ndiaye told Franceinfo. The government's pension reform project is still the subject of consultation between the government, unions and employers, and...

November 29, 2019
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29Nov

Australia. Supporting upskilling of dispersed workforce

Leadership, communication and collaboration are consistently seen as the top three skills people managers want and online training can help foster these skills, writes Scott Cooper. Almost a quarter of a million people are employed as direct care providers in Australia’s aged care sector. The government has estimated this number needs to increase two to three times by 2050 to look after the ageing population. At the same time, there’s already an urgent shortage of skills and highly-trained people...

November 29, 2019
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28Nov

France. ‘Pension change needed but has been badly explained’

THE strikes have the government worried and could result in a general election, says sociologist Jean Viard, however the outcome remains uncertain. Dr Viard, a director of research at Sciences Po who stood to be an LREM MP in 2017, said: “The press talks a great deal about December 5 and I have met members of government and know they are very worried, but it is unpredictable. “The SNCF and RATP are motivated, because the SNCF lost its...

November 28, 2019
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08Nov

Social Protection in Developing Countries: Reforming Systems

By Katja Bender, Markus Kaltenborn, Christian Pfleiderer, Magdalena Sepulveda Carmona Providing universal access to social protection and health systems for all members of society, including the poor and vulnerable, is increasingly considered crucial to international development debates. This is the first book to explore from an interdisciplinary and global perspective the reforms of social protection systems introduced in recent years by many governments of low and middle-income countries. Although a growing body of literature has been concerned with the...

November 8, 2019
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08Nov

Sharpening the Teeth of EU Social Fundamental Rights? The Case of State Pension Age in the UK

By Hans van Meerten In this contribution I want to discuss an important and very topical EU Law element of the judgment regarding two claimants (Delve and Glynn), backed by BackTo60, versus the UK Department of Work and Pensions (hereafter: Delve and Glynn). Claimants argued inter alia that the UK State Pension Age (SPA)was discriminatory. I want to focus here not if SPA is discriminatory, but whether the (SPA) falls in the ambit of EU law. Didn’t the UK...

November 8, 2019
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05Nov

Bulgaria. New proposal for the minimum pension

CITUB proposed the minimum pension to be increased by 14 percent or from BGN 219.43 to BGN 250 as of July 1, 2020. In this way, 850,000 retirees will receive this increase and will feel that this time the government, parliament and society are being empathetic and concerned, CITUB said. The CITUB has estimated that the additional cost for this measure is not negligible - about BGN 80 million, but it is fully achievable. "And the social and even political...

November 5, 2019
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October 2019

28Oct

France. Macron vows to push pension reform ‘to the end’ despite strikes

French President Emmanuel Macron vowed no let up in his drive to implement far-reaching pension reforms despite a looming winter of strikes by unions angered by the plan, in an interview broadcast on Monday. Macron told RTL radio that there would be "no complacency or weakness" in pushing through the changes, even if it risked making him more unpopular. "I want this reform to go to the end, I think it is necessary for the country so I will...

October 28, 2019
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28Oct

Thailand. Pensions need drastic reform

Becoming an aged society is a big challenge for Thailand, especially when it comes to welfare provided by existing pension schemes. According to the United Nations, a country with over 10% of its population aged 60 and older is an ageing society. When this group increases to over 20%, the country becomes classified as an aged society. In Thailand, as of 2015, 10.5 million people, or 16.2% of the 65.2 million population, were aged over 60. Siam Commercial Bank...

October 28, 2019
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