Hinrichs, Karl; Brosig, Magnus: Die Staatsschuldenkrise und die Reform von Alterssicherungssystemen in europäischen Ländern

The „Great Recession“ and sovereign debt crises in several EU countries in the wake of the 2008 financial market crisis have triggered drastic reforms of old-age security systems. They aim at ensuring the funding of pensions in the short and long run, regaining room for fiscal manoeuvre, getting access to financial aid, or realizing notions of intergenerational fairness. Almost exclusively, the reforms meant retrenchments with often severe and immediate consequences for the living conditions of present and future pensioners. The paper deals with reforms in nine EU countries: Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and the UK. It looks into the reform contents and the circumstances which led to the respective changes or facilitated them. It is shown that the challenges these countries were (or still are) confronted with allowed or enforced alterations which would not have been feasible otherwise or which would not have been initiated by governments in view of the political consequences. Moreover, cross-national comparison reveals similarities and differences and also sheds light on the social consequences that are already visible today.

 Download: ZeS Working Paper 02/2013