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How best to measure pension adequacy

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  • Aaron George Grech
Abstract
Though the main benchmark used to assess pension reforms continues to be the expected resulting fall in future government spending, the impact of policy changes on pension adequacy is increasingly coming to the fore. As yet, there does not seem to be a broad consensus in policymaking circles and academic literature on what constitutes the best measure of pension adequacy. While various indicators have been developed and utilised, no single measure appears to offer a clear indication of the extent to which reforms will impact on the achievement of pension system goals. Many indicators appear ill-suited to study the effective impact of reforms, particularly those that change the nature of the pension system from defined benefit to defined contribution. Existing measures are frequently hard to interpret as they do not have an underlying benchmark which allows their current or projected value to be assessed as adequate or inadequate. Currently used pension adequacy indicators tend to be point-in-time measures which ignore the impact of benefit indexation rules. They also are unaffected by very important factors, such as changes in the pension age and in life expectancy. This tends to make existing indicators minimise the impact of systemic reforms on the poverty alleviation and income replacement functions of pension systems. The emphasis on assumptions which are very unrepresentative of real-life labour market conditions also makes current indicators deceptive, particularly in relation to outcomes for women and those on low incomes. This paper posits that these defects can be remedied by using adequacy indicators based on estimates of pension wealth (i.e. the total projected flow of pension benefits through retirement) calculated using more realistic labour market assumptions. These measures are used to give a better indication of the effective impact of pension reforms enacted since the 1990s in ten major European countries. They suggest that these reforms have decreased generosity significantly, but that the poverty alleviation function remains strong in those countries where minimum pensions were improved. However, moves to link benefits to contributions have raised clear adequacy concerns for women and for those on low incomes which policymakers should consider and tackle.

Suggested Citation

  • Aaron George Grech, 2013. "How best to measure pension adequacy," CASE Papers case172, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:sticas:case172
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    File URL: https://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/case/cp/casepaper172.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Aaron George Grech, 2015. "The Financial Crisis and Differences in State Pension Generosity across EU Countries," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 13(02), pages 36-41, August.
    2. Filip Chybalski & Edyta Marcinkiewicz, 2016. "The Replacement Rate: An Imperfect Indicator of Pension Adequacy in Cross-Country Analyses," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 126(1), pages 99-117, March.
    3. Brown, Alessio J.G. & Fraikin, Anne-Lore, 2022. "The old-age pension household replacement rate in Belgium," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    4. Qing Zhao & Zhen Li & Yihuan Wang, 2019. "Adequacy Analysis of the Basic Old-Age Pension System Based on Local Administrative Data in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-18, December.
    5. Anne LAVIGNE & Christophe DANIEL & Jesus Herell NZE-OBAME & Christian Rodrigue TAGNE & Bruno SEJOURNE & Stéphane MOTTET, 2016. "La réforme des retraites de 1993 en France : quel impact sur l’équivalent patrimonial des droits à la retraite ?," LEO Working Papers / DR LEO 2337, Orleans Economics Laboratory / Laboratoire d'Economie d'Orleans (LEO), University of Orleans.
    6. Marhanum Che Mohd Salleh & Mohammad Abdul Matin Chowdhury & Siti Salwani Razali & Nan Nurhidayu Megat Laksana, 2020. "Retirement Schemes, its Challenges and Ways of Reformation: A Cross-Border Study," International Journal of Asian Social Science, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 10(9), pages 507-520, September.
    7. Michal Mešťan & Ivan Králik & Matej Žofaj & Nikola Karkošiaková & Audrius Kabašinskas, 2021. "Projections of pension benefits in supplementary pension saving scheme in Slovakia," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 29(2), pages 687-712, June.
    8. Anne LAVIGNE & Christophe DANIEL & Stéphane MOTTET & Jesus Herell NZE-OBAME & Bruno SEJOURNE & Christian Rodrigue TAGNE, 2016. "L’équivalent patrimonial des droits à la Retraite en France : méthodologie et mesure à partir de l’Echantillon Inter-régime de retraités (version de Février 2016)," LEO Working Papers / DR LEO 2351, Orleans Economics Laboratory / Laboratoire d'Economie d'Orleans (LEO), University of Orleans.
    9. repec:ces:ifodic:v:13:y:2015:i:2:p:19166297 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Christian Rodrigue TAGNE, 2016. "Derived Pensions Rights and Pension Wealth: an Assessment Using French Data," LEO Working Papers / DR LEO 2431, Orleans Economics Laboratory / Laboratoire d'Economie d'Orleans (LEO), University of Orleans.
    11. Juan-José Alonso-Fernandez & Robert Meneu-Gaya & Enrique Devesa-Carpio & Mar Devesa-Carpio & Inmaculada Dominguez-Fabian & Borja Encinas-Goenechea, 2018. "From the Replacement Rate to the Synthetic Indicator: A Global and Gender Measure of Pension Adequacy in the European Union," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 138(1), pages 165-186, July.
    12. Edyta Marcinkiewicz, 2019. "Voluntary Pensions Development and the Adequacy of the Mandatory Pension System: Is There a Trade-Off?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(2), pages 609-636, June.
    13. Aaron George Grech, 2015. "The Financial Crisis and Differences in State Pension Generosity across EU Countries," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 13(2), pages 36-41, 08.
    14. Aaron George, Grech, 2014. "Pension policy design: The core issues," MPRA Paper 53662, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Christophe Daniel & Anne Lavigne & Stéphane Mottet & Jesus-Herell Nze Obame & Bruno Séjourné & Christian Tagne, 2015. "Retirees' Pension Wealth in France: An Assessment on Sample Administrative Data," Working Papers halshs-01175605, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social Security and Public Pensions; Retirement; Poverty; Retirement Policies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies

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