Why is Austria’s Pension System So Much Better Than Germany’s?

Blank, Florian; Logeay, Camille; Türk, Erik; Wöss, Josef; Zwiener, Rudolf

doi:10.1007/s10272-016-0589-8

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…The system is based on the 80/45/65 rule: an 80% gross replacement rate for people who have paid 45 years of social security contributions and retire at 65 (Knell, 2013). It also entails means tested social benefits for pensioners with insufficient income and pension entitlements (Blank et al, 2016).…”

Section: Austriamentioning

confidence: 99%

Pension Communication in the Netherlands and Other Countries

et al. 2018

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In many countries, pension reforms reduce the generosity of collective pensions and shift the responsibility for an adequate standard of living after retirement to individuals and their households. Individuals have to make more decisions than before on supplementary pension savings, on how to invest their DC pension assets, etc. Making such decisions is challenging, since retirement planning requires intertemporal decision-making under uncertainty and is subject to behavioural and psychological biases. Many studies in different countries have shown that the large majority lack the interest, knowledge, or skills to make such decisions in a way that is in their own best interest. Governments and the pension industry try to assist individuals in making the right decisions through pension communication. This paper focuses on experiences with pension communication, and the lessons to be learned from them. First, the paper provides an overview of the literature, addressing how pension communication is organized across countries and what can be said about its efficiency. Second, using Dutch longitudinal data at the individual level, we analyse the relations between communication (receiving an annual pension overview), pension knowledge, and conscious pension decision-making. We investigate associations and aim at estimating causal effects exploiting the timing of events.

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Section: Austriamentioning

confidence: 99%

Pension Communication in the Netherlands and Other Countries

et al. 2018

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“…This was also recently stressed by Bergmann et al (2019). Ultimately, the pension system in Austria remains sustainable firstly, due to the higher tax contributions and secondly, due to the slower ageing of the population compared to other countries, including Germany (Blank et al 2016).…”

Section: Old Age Pensions and Family And Children Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Old versus young: How much do countries spend on social benefits? Deterministic modeling for government expenditure

Focacci

2022

Qual Quant

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The increasing levels of population ageing have led to debates questioning the spending hierarchy granted by governments to social benefits. In this article, we use a Lotka–Voltera competition model based on differential equations to investigate the relationships between old age pensions, family/children benefits, sickness/health care, and unemployment benefits. The analysis focuses on Austria, Germany, and Switzerland between 2007 and 2018 with the aim of better understanding whether and when priority is given to benefits in favour of the older versus younger cohorts of the population. Findings for the German-speaking European triangle show that an intergenerational conflict is significantly present in government expenditure. In particular, old age pensions and family and children benefits mostly interact in a predator–prey relationship that favours old age pensions, while expenditure for sickness and health care predominates the scenario.

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“…In spite of these protests, the government did make a number of changes leading to a reduction of the replacement rate of contributions and an increase in the number of years of contribution required to reach the 80% replacement rate goal of public pensions. Still, the public pension remained, and remains, very generous in international comparison (Blank, Logeay, Türk, Wöss, & Zwiener, ; Pavolini & Seeleib‐Kaiser, ). This is, to an important extent, due to the strong position of the unions.…”

Section: The Role Of Trade Unionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Opportunity or threat? How trade union power and preferences shape occupational pensions

Keune

2018

Soc Policy Adm

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In this article, we discuss the role of trade unions in the evolution of occupational pensions in four countries: Austria, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. In all four cases, important reforms have been made to the pension systems, including the consolidation of extensive occupational pensions in the Netherlands, substantial expansion of occupational pensions in Germany, and a continued marginal position of occupational pensions in Austria and Belgium. We show that the distinct developments in occupational pensions in the four cases since the 1990s can, to an important extent, be understood by the differences in the power resources and preferences of trade unions. The influence of unions on the development of occupational pension systems depends, on the one hand, on the extent to which they see them as an opportunity or a threat, and, on the other hand, on the extent to which they have the power resources to consolidate, oppose or shape these systems.

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Why is Austria’s Pension System So Much Better Than Germany’s?

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Pension Communication in the Netherlands and Other Countries

Pension Communication in the Netherlands and Other Countries

Old versus young: How much do countries spend on social benefits? Deterministic modeling for government expenditure

Opportunity or threat? How trade union power and preferences shape occupational pensions

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