The Pension System in the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute (IESS)

Abstract

The financial stability of millions of older adults around the world rests on the shoulders of well-functioning pension systems. For this reason, the sustainability of such systems is one of the most important challenges facing states, especially in the face of low birth rates and increased life expectancy. Hence the growing importance of the debate over taxation and economic policy. This study presents the historical backgrounds of the pension system in Ecuador to give an all-encompassing view of its present configuration, and examines the relevant data of the factors that affect the pension system with the purpose of evaluating the sustainability of the Ecuadorian pension system in the long term. Both the historical and evaluative aspects of the study lead to an analysis of fiscal policies, the political relationships of the system and numerous exogenous processes that reveal aspects of the system that lack the expected solidarity.