We consider recent trends in pension policies in OECD countries in light of demographic aging associated with welfare regime type (Liberal, Social Democratic, Continental, and Southern European). These regime types represent different responsibilities assumed for social security on the part of the market, the state, and the family. While there are significant differences in labor market characteristics, the demographic similarities in aging bring similar pressures for pension reforms across OECD countries. These reforms address fiscal issues in state pensions, typically by increasing the length of the working life, placing more of the pension responsibility on individuals, or converting to defined-contribution approaches. Our study shows that there is no single path for pension reform. While there are some variations, welfare states tend to follow their traditional paths, which differ across welfare regime types. Copyright (c) 2009 The Population Council, Inc..

ABSTRACT:The financial crisis of 2008 and the ongoing economic turmoil in Southern European countries pose significant challenges to many welfare regimes and their pension systems. This paper analyzes the Turkish pension system and pension reforms in relation to welfare regime discussions in the literature. Via the application of the hierarchical cluster analysis to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development data, this study shows that, supporting previous comparative studies, the Turkish pension regime can be characterized as a part of the Southern European welfare regime, and the 2006 pension reforms were implemented mainly to achieve a recalibration of the Turkish pension system. This paper asserts that although important improvements have been made toward achieving a sustainable and fair pension system, the Turkish pension system still has some structural problems with respect to intergenerational equity.

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This chapter scrutinises the social protection system in contemporary Turkey in order to examine how different groups of individuals access social benefits across five main policy areas—unemployment, health care, family allowances, pensions, and guaranteed minimum resources. The general conditions under which Turkish citizens and foreigners have access to social benefits in Turkey can be summarized as follows: (i) residence and employment status are important determinants of one’s access to social protection in Turkey; (ii) employment status generally determines the access to unemployment benefits, health care, pensions, and family benefits, while residence status is important for all social policy areas except pensions; (iii) a majority of social benefits provided for Turkish citizens are also available for foreign residents through their employment status; (iv) guaranteed income is granted based on residence in Turkey; (v) access to family benefits may vary depending on one’s occupation, residence, and nationality. The Turkish system of social protection is a fragmented one, with divisions based on occupational differences, residence, income level, and citizenship. This fragmented nature coupled with regional and global socio-economic risks (particularly large migration flows) make structural social security reforms inevitable in contemporary Turkey.

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