The Gender Impact of Pension Reform

During the past two decades, new multi-pillar systems have developed to make the plans more financially sustainable and beneficial for economic growth. These systems have been sweeping Latin America, the transition economies of Eastern and Central...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	James, Estelle, Cox Edwards, Alejandra, Wong, Rebeca
Format:	Other Financial Sector Study
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2013
Subjects:	ADULTHOOD AGE OF MARRIAGE BEHAVIOR CHANGE BENEFITS FOR WOMEN BIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES BOTH SEXES BREADWINNERS CAREER WOMEN CHILD CARE CHILD-BEARING CHILD-CARE CHILD-REARING RESPONSIBILITIES COMPENSATION CUSTOM DECLINE IN FERTILITY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DIVORCE DIVORCED WOMAN ECONOMIC GROWTH EDUCATED MEN EDUCATED WOMEN EDUCATION FOR GIRLS ELDERLY ELDERLY MEN ELDERLY WOMEN EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS EXTENDED FAMILIES EXTENDED FAMILY FAMILIES FAMILY CONSUMPTION FAMILY INCOME FAMILY MEMBERS FAMILY RESOURCES FAMILY SIZE FAMILY STRUCTURE FAMILY STRUCTURES FAMILY SUPPORT FEMALE FEMALE EDUCATION FEMALE LABOR FEMALE LABOR FORCE FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION FEMALE POPULATION FEMALE WORK FEMALE WORKERS FEMALES FERTILITY FERTILITY RATES FEWER CHILDREN FIRST CHILD GENDER GENDER DIFFERENCES GENDER DIFFERENTIALS GENDER DISPARITY GENDER EQUALITY GENDER GAP GENDER IMPACT GENDER IMPLICATIONS GENDER INDICATORS GENDER ISSUES GENDERS GENERATIONS GIRL CHILDREN HIGHLY EDUCATED WOMEN HOME HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLD STRUCTURES HUSBAND HUSBANDS IMPORTANT POLICY INCOME SECURITY INEQUALITY INEQUITIES INFORMAL SECTOR INSTITUTIONAL REFORM INSURANCE LABOR FORCE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION LABOR MARKET LEVEL OF EDUCATION LIFE EXPECTANCY LIVING STANDARDS LONGER LIFE LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES MARITAL STATUS MARRIAGES MARRIED COUPLES MARRIED MEN MARRIED WOMAN MARRIED WOMEN MORAL SUPPORT MORTALITY MOTHER MOTHERS NEW ENTRANTS NUCLEAR FAMILIES NUCLEAR FAMILY OLD AGE OLD MEN OLD SYSTEM OLDER AGE GROUPS OLDER MEN OLDER PEOPLE OLDER WOMEN PARENTHOOD PARENTS PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN PARTICIPATION RATES PENSION PENSIONS POOR WOMEN PRIMARY EDUCATION PRIMARY SCHOOL PRIMARY SCHOOL EDUCATION PRIVACY PROPORTION OF WOMEN PUBLIC SERVICES RESIDENCE RETURNS TO EDUCATION RICHER COUNTRIES ROLE OF WOMEN RURAL AREAS SAFETY NETS SCHOOLING SECONDARY EDUCATION SECONDARY SCHOOL SECURITY POLICY SEXES SINGLE WOMEN SOCIAL ASSISTANCE SOCIAL NORMS SOCIAL SECURITY SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEMS SPOUSE SPOUSES STATE UNIVERSITY TRADITIONAL FAMILY TRADITIONAL SOCIETIES URBAN AREAS URBAN WOMEN WIDOW WIDOWERS WIDOWS WIFE WILL WIVES WOMEN WITH CHILDREN WORK EXPERIENCE WORKING WOMEN YOUNG ADULTS YOUNG PEOPLE YOUNG WOMEN
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/01/16333153/gender-impact-pension-reform http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13046

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Summary:	During the past two decades, new multi-pillar systems have developed to make the plans more financially sustainable and beneficial for economic growth. These systems have been sweeping Latin America, the transition economies of Eastern and Central Europe and the former Soviet Union, as well as many OECD countries. The new systems contain two separate mandatory "pillars" or financing arrangements: a privately-managed defined contribution (DC) funded plan that handles workers' retirement saving and a publicly-managed defined benefit (DB) plan that is reduced in size compared with the old one and has the objective of redistributing and diversifying retirement income. In the defined contribution plan, the contribution is specified and placed in the worker's individual account but benefits are uncertain a priori--they depend strictly on contributions plus investment earnings that accumulate through the workers' lifetime. The fact that these accounts are funded, owned by workers, invested in financial markets, and don't carry a promise of a large tax-financed old age benefit relieves the government of a future financial obligation. However, critics argue that these plans will produce lower pensions for women, who have worked and contributed less than men. In contrast, supporters argue that the new systems remove biases in the old systems that favored men and discouraged work by women. They hypothesize that separating the redistributive function from the earnings-related saving function results in more transparent and targeted redistributions from which women will benefit.

The Gender Impact of Pension Reform

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