The social impacts on women of the proposed reforms to the pension system : a policy instrument to stimulate growth of women in employment

Abstract

"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes", said Benjamin Franklin (Benjamin Franklin Quotations, 2006: point 42). Albeit, these days we are faced with another certainty: old age and pensions, which until quite recently mattered only to two small and politically uninterested minorities: actuaries and old people. Changes in Demographics, however, have swelled the number of people worried about their future, made the current pensions system unsustainable and is urging governments in countries all over the world to make sweeping changes that force people to save and work more. This dissertation, in a nutshell, portrays initially the current pension system, the growing looming scenario resulting from the graying of the population, and the threatening effects to be faced especially if a policy of no reform is embarked onto. The study asks whether the Maltese Government via the recommendations proposed by the Pension Working Group in the White Paper and Final Report: 'Pensions Adequate and Sustainable', will improve pensions to such an extent that they will positively impact on the social life of women thus acting as a policy instrument to stimulate their growth in the labour market and hence due to so; guarantee an adequate and sustainable pension system.