The Decline of the Traditional Pension
A Comparative Study of Threats to Retirement Security

This book studies developments in employer-provided pensions in ten industrial countries to explain the diminished importance of the traditional pension.

G. A. (Sandy) Mackenzie (Author)

9781107507326, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 5 March 2015

294 pages, 8 b/w illus. 13 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.49 kg

'Pensions have become an extremely important part of the social system in many countries as life spans increased and people moved away from extended families. The pension systems that flourished in many countries are now in a state of decline. This book provides an important perspective as it looks at what has happened in ten countries and offers policy options for the future.' Anna M. Rappaport, Anna Rappaport Consulting

The traditional (final or average salary) pension that employers have provided their employees has suffered a huge decline in labor force coverage in the United Kingdom and the United States, and less severe declines in Canada and elsewhere. The traditional pension provides a precious measure of retirement security by paying retirees an annuity for life. This study compares developments in the countries just named and in Australia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland to explain the forces behind the decline of the traditional pension and to contrast the experience of public sector employer-provided plans, where it remains dominant. Given the great value of the longevity insurance that the traditional plan provides, and the risks its diminished coverage entails, the book proposes a set of measures that either stem the decline or endow defined contribution pensions with some of the attributes of the traditional plan.

Introduction
Part I: 1. The development of employer-provided pensions
2. The economics of occupational/employer-provided pension plans
3. Issues in funding and investing
4. Regulatory issues
5. Public sector employer-provided pensions and recent innovations in the first tier
Part II: 6. The causes of decline
7. Policies to address the decline of the traditional pension
8. Summary and conclusions
Appendix 1. Ten country profiles
Appendix 2. Mathematical treatments and derivations.

Subject Areas: Management & management techniques [KJM], Business strategy [KJC], Economics, finance, business & management [K]