Views expressed in this report are not necessarily those of the Department for Work and Pensions or any other Government Department.

This article details the changes in total income and the composition of its sources that occur upon initial receipt of Social Security benefits, and in the first 4 years thereafter. The study shows that, for many persons, "retirement" is a gradual process rather than an immediate cessation of all paid work. About half the persons entering the rolls continue at least some paid employment after b...

A PAYGO system may serve as insurance against not having children and as an enforcement device for ungrateful children who are unwilling to pay their parents a pension. In fact, the latter was Bismarck’s historic motive for introducing this system. It is true that the PAYGO system reduces the investment in human capital, but if it is run on a sufficiently small scale, it may nevertheless bring ...

The paper evaluates the theoretical literature on public pension schemes. First, the terms pay-as-you-go and capital reserve are made precise. These two systems are then compared, followed by a consideration of their efficiency properties. Thereafter conversion policies are discussed. JEL-Classification: H21, H55

As population aging becomes more pronounced in the developing world, the uneven implementation of social safety nets raises important questions as to howwell traditional family-basedmechanisms insure elderly incomes when pension systems fail. Using a unique dataset from a recent household survey conducted in urban China, we find evidence that private transfers respond to low household income of...