Pensions at a Glance
Subtitle: Asia Pacific 2009
By: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and The World Bank
Contributors: World Bank
Edition: Special ed.
Publisher: OECD Publishing
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Paris
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] /
Number of pages: 102
ISBN-13: 9789264059771
Subjects: Social Issues/Migration/Health
Description: The report analyses the retirement income systems of 18 Asian countries, including Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam. It says that reform is needed because: coverage of formal pension systems is relatively low; withdrawal of savings before retirement is very common; pension savings are often taken as lump sums and often do not provide people with adequate income over their lifetime; pensions payments are not automatically adjusted to reflect changes in the cost of living. In OECD countries, an average of 70% of the working-age population are eligible for a pension. However in South Asia, just 7.5% of the working-age population are eligible and in East Asia 18%. Furthermore, few countries in Asia/Pacific have social pensions to provide safety-net retirement incomes for people who are not members of formal schemes. Only in India are social pensions significant, with around 10 to 15% of older people covered.