On 27 March 2024, ESIP hosted a public workshop titled "Pension systems' sustainability and adequacy in an ageing society." The event took place at the premises of ONEM, the Belgian Federal Employment Office, in Brussels.
Panellists addressed the impact of Europe's ageing population on the long-term sustainability of the pension systems and the need for adequate benefits.
The workshop was introduced by Zofia Czepulis-Rutkowska (ZUS, Poland & Chair of the ESIP Pension Committee) and featured esteemed members of academia such as Agnieszka Chlon-Dominczak (SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Poland) and Yves Stevens (KULeuven, Belgium), national social security experts from ESIP Members such as Paulina Jarmuz-Zawadzka (ZUS, Poland), Verena Zwinger (PV, Austria), Susana Rosa (ISS, Portugal), Francesco Verbaro (AdEPP, Italy), Aart-Jan Riekhoff (ETK, Finland) and Maciej Lis from the OECD.
The first panel sought to examine the context of demographic change in Europe, and the difficulties social protection providers face in planning a very long-term pension scheme that ensures its sustainability and provides sufficient resources to retirees while taking into account new realities such as new types of work or different career paths.
The second panel of the workshop discussed the challenges decision-makers face various EU Member States in trying to resolve the equality vs equity dilemma in order to ensure that all elderly people live decently in Europe.
Check out the workshop briefing to find out more about the discussions between our speakers and the programme of the event.