Children and pensions /

An analysis of the effect of public pension schemes on a country's fertility rate and a proposal for policies to reform pension coverage in light of this. The rapidly aging populations of many developed countries--most notably Japan and member countries of the European Union--present obvious pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Cigno, Alessandro
Other Authors: Werding, Martin
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, ©2007.
Series:CESifo book series.
Subjects:
Online Access:CONNECT
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Summary:An analysis of the effect of public pension schemes on a country's fertility rate and a proposal for policies to reform pension coverage in light of this. The rapidly aging populations of many developed countries--most notably Japan and member countries of the European Union--present obvious problems for the public pension plans of these countries. Not only will there be disproportionately fewer workers making pension contributions than there are retirees drawing pension benefits, but the youth-to-age imbalance would significantly affect the total contributive capacity of future generations and hence their total income growth. In Children and Pensions, Alessandro Cigno and Martin Werding examine the way pension policy and child-related benefits affect fertility behavior and productivity growth. They present theoretical arguments to the effect that public pension coverage as such will reduce aggregate fertility and may raise aggregate household savings. They argue further that public pensions, as they are currently designed, discourage parents from private human capital investment in their children to improve the children's future earning capacity. After an overview of pension and child benefit policies (focusing on the European Union, Japan, and the United States), the authors offer an empirical and theoretical analysis and a simulation of the effects of the policies under discussion. Their policy proposals to address declines in fertility and productivity growth include the innovative suggestion that relates a person's pension entitlements to his or her number of children and the children's earning ability--proposing that, in effect, a person's pension could be financed in part or in full by the pensioner's own children.
Item Description:EBSCO eBook Academic Comprehensive Collection North America
MIT Press Direct to Open Backfile Complete Monographs
Physical Description:1 online resource (xxiii, 204 pages) : illustrations
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-196) and index.
ISBN:9780262270342
026227034X
9781435605039
1435605039
0262307200
9780262307208
1282099191
9781282099197
9786612099199
6612099194