Demographics and Pension Reforms in the Major Central and Eastern European Countries

Dieter Bräuninger

Published: March 2003


Today in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries there are barely 30 pensioners for every 100 persons of working age. By 2050, the number could rise to almost 80 pensioners. So far Poland has responded the most rigorously to the challenge, establishing a modern three-pillar pension system. The new second pillar forms the core of the bulwark against future demographic strain, with private savings being accumulated in personal accounts kept at private pension funds. Hungary has also established a second pillar of private pension funds, but the necessary restructuring of the state pension scheme is not proceeding fast enough. In the Czech Republic, a three-pillar system thus far exists only on paper.



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