Pensions in Europe
Europe’s pension crisis are wellknown to everyone. The ratio of retired people to the active labour force is set to rise from less than 25 per cent to about 50 per cent by 2050.
The European countryes with a state system combined with an element of private funding are the best placed to weather the pensions storm.
If there is an area of optimism in Europe, it is the approach of the eastern European countries, where the legacy of the communist regime made radical reform unavoidable. The prevailing system seems to be that of a limited state-financed pension, combined with compulsory defined contribution schemes. It is a solution which should avoid the worst pitfalls of the continental systems.
Abridged from Financial Times FM