Description
Book SynopsisThis timely and perceptive book addresses the issues surrounding the adequacy of old-age income for future pensioners worldwide. It highlights how today’s young people are confronted with the simultaneous challenges of increasing employment uncertainty and declining pension generosity – topics which are highly relevant in contemporary welfare states.
This pivotal study of the relationship between the current labour market and future pensions explores the ways in which public policies relating to education, employment and welfare work to sustain a decent living standard during retirement. Using a diverse range of comparative studies across a multitude of countries and nation-specific case studies, chapters consider the influence of institutions and social, cultural and economic norms on public pensions and retirement saving behaviours in young adults.
Providing a valuable insight into contemporary research findings, this innovative book will be essential reading for students and scholars in the areas of welfare states, labour economics, pensions and the sociology of youth. Policymakers in these fields will also benefit from its analysis of sustainable pension policy development.
Trade Review‘Young people face many immediate challenges in today’s labour markets, yet their longer-term prospects for retirement have often been neglected. Importantly, this edited volume addresses the links between disadvantages experienced early in careers and the much later, often substantial, consequences for retirement and old-age income. Going beyond the ordinary, these interdisciplinary studies fill knowledge gaps, especially with respect to social risk groups and geographical spread. They investigate how flexibilization of work and pension reforms challenge youth today and how they will continue to challenge them in the future. Are they aware of their prospects – and can they save adequately for their old age retirement?’ -- Bernhard Ebbinghaus, University of Mannheim, Germany
Table of ContentsContents: Preface viii 1 Introduction to Youth Employment Insecurity and Pension Adequacy 1 Dirk Hofäcker and Kati Kuitto PART I LABOUR MARKET RISKS, PENSION SYSTEMS AND OLD AGE SECURITY 2 Youth and pensions in a European comparison – how pension systems consider early adulthood and life course uncertainties 15 Susan Kuivalainen, Antti Mielonen and Niko Väänänen 3 The impact of discontinuity – how unemployment shapes outcomes in voluntary pension schemes 31 Dina Frommert 4 Self-employment and the risk of poverty in old age – what’s the role of pension systems in Europe? 50 Julia Höppner 5 Manifesting future disadvantage – class, gender and pension accrual of the low-educated young in Europe 70 Traute Meyer 6 Employment in youth and pension accumulation in Finland – how recent pension reforms account for early career employment 91 Ilari Ilmakunnas and Kati Kuitto 7 Labour market insecurities of younger couples and homeownership in later adulthood in Germany: how important is couples’ and gendered risk aversion in the decision process? 106 Sophia Fauser and Sonja Scheuring PART II ATTITUDES TOWARDS PRIVATE PENSIONS AND RETIREMENT SAVING BEHAVIOUR 8 The social, cultural and economic influences on retirement saving for young adults in the UK 127 Ellie Suh and Hayley James 9 Attitudes of young workers towards the private pension system in Turkey 146 Müge Gülmez Korkmaz 10 Youth informal employment in Arab States – exclusion and exit 163 Walid Merouani Index
