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Comparing state pension reforms in EU countries before and after 2008

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2020

Aaron George Grech Open the ORCID record for Aaron George Grech [Opens in a new window]
Aaron George Grech*
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science & Chief Officer, Economics at the Central Bank of Malta, Valletta, Malta
*
CONTACT Aaron George Grech a.g.grech@lse.ac.uk; grechga@centralbankmalta.org London School of Economics and Political Science & Chief Officer, Economics at the Central Bank of Malta, Castille Place, Valletta, VLT 1060, Malta
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Abstract

Many EU countries have been carrying out substantial state pension reforms since the mid-1990s. This article studies whether the reforms that were carried out in ten EU countries before and after the 2008 financial crisis are different. This is done through an analysis of the different elements of these reforms and also by comparing pension entitlements after each set of reforms. The main conclusion is that the pre-crisis reforms were much stronger and had a more negative impact on women than the post-crisis reforms. It is harder to determine whether this represents a temporary break in the reform process or a permanent change in the orientation of pension reforms in these ten countries.

Keywords

Social security and public pensionsretirementpovertyretirement policies
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy , Volume 33 , Issue 3 , October 2017 , pp. 225 - 239
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

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