The Gender Impact of Social Security Reform

by James, Estelle; Edwards, Alejandra Cox; Wong, Rebeca

• ISBN13: 9780226392004
• ISBN10: 0226392007
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-08-15
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

"As populations age and revenues diminish, government and private pension funds around the world have become unsustainable in their present form. The looming social security crisis is especially dire for women, who live longer than men but have worked less in the formal labor force. This study examines alternative social security systems and their disparate impacts on men and women. Emphasis is placed on the new multi-pillar systems that combine a publicly managed benefit and a mandatory private retirement saving plan." "The Gender Impact of Social Security Reform compares the gendered outcomes of social security systems in Chile, Argentina, and Mexico, and presents empirical findings from Eastern and Central European transition economies as well as several OECD countries. Women's positions have improved relative to men in countries where joint pensions have been required, widows who have worked can keep the joint pension in addition to their own benefit, the public benefit has been targeted toward low earners, and women's retirement age has been raised to equality with that of men."--BOOK JACKET.

Author Biography

Estelle James is a consultant to the World Bank, USAID, and other organizations, former lead economist at the World Bank, and professor emeritus of economics at the State University of New York, Stony Brook.
 
Alejandra Cox Edwards is professor of economics at California State University–Long Beach and consultant to the World Bank and the Inter-American Bank for Development.
 
Rebeca Wong is associate director of the Maryland Population Research Center and associate research scientist in the Department of Sociology at the University of Maryland.

 

 

 

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Introduction	p. 1
Why Do Social Security Systems and Social Security Reforms Have a Gender Impact?	p. 9
Living Arrangements and Standards of Elderly Men and Women	p. 19
How Do We Measure the Impact of Social Security Systems and Reforms?	p. 32
Chile	p. 48
Argentina	p. 93
Mexico	p. 128
Gender Issues in Social Security Reforms of Other Regions	p. 163
Design Features That Determine Gender Outcomes	p. 186
Conclusion	p. 215
Appendixes
Data Sources and Methodology	p. 225
Changes in Education and How It Affects Women's Work and Pensions	p. 230
Imputed Taxes, Net Benefits, Money's Worth Ratios, and Redistributions	p. 240
Additional Appendix Tables	p. 244
Notes	p. 251
References	p. 263
Index	p. 271
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