The development and Reform of Social Security Pensions:The Approach of the International Labour Office

Abstract

The reform and the development of pension schemes are affected by the values society places on the provision of income security in old age and the resources it is prepared to allocate for the purpose. This paper examines those values and the issues arising from them. The objective is to propose reforms which will simultaneously provide full coverage with good governance, prevent poverty in old age, and result in indexed, guaranteed and reliable pensions for those on average incomes, all with minimum economic distortion or adverse economic effects. The question of the most appropriate design has to be weighed against these other factors, which will determine not only what is feasible and what is not, but also where the most desirable balance lies.The optimum structure would seem to involve a mix of defined benefit and defined contribution schemes.

Retirement income security under Ghana's three-tier pension model: Assessment of risks and options for reform

“…This issue is even more complicated given that life expectancy among informal sector workers is lower than those in the formal sector. 31 Although it can be argued that the Ghanaian state lacked the administrative capacity 12 to capture informal sector workers in an earnings-related pension programs, 32 the newly introduced three-tier pension program reinforces existing patterns of inequality among the citizenry and makes income security for all elderly Ghanaians possible only under conditions of full formal sector employment for all cohorts at all times.…”

“…As the social pension would be directed at poverty reduction, it is imperative to augment it by relying on institutional practices such as cooperatives and rotational savings clubs to enhance the opportunity structures for the emergence of similar practices for the purposes of protection of the aged. 32 Within this framework, additional allowances could be given by the state, mutual and cooperative schemes or private households to the elderly with the physical and mental capabilities to help in raising children either under institutional daycare or within household, thereby freeing parents to actively participate in the labor and contribute to growth.…”

The global social insurance movement since the 1880s

“…102 The former socialist countries in eastern Europe then began to adopt such mixed systems. 106 The ILO's multi-pillar system is fundamentally different from that of the World Bank: the World Bank stresses privately managed individual savings accounts while the ILO emphasizes public systems, including means-tested assistance and social insurance systems. 103 The Russian Federation espoused a mixed system in 2002.…”

Fund management and its effect in the Greek social security system

“…Its critics are spread over the entire political spectrum and attack it either as too liberal or too socialist, depending on their political views. As a result, any discussion as to how the system might be or might have been relieved by higher yields must necessarily, if not primarily, touch upon the issue of risk, given that a stated goal of Social Security is to provide retirement benefits at low risk (Gillion, 2000). 7 The conversion rate was set to 340.75 drachmas per 1 euro when Greece joined the Eurozone in 2001.…”