ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the pension systems in the European context from a gender perspective, considering both the public and the private provision, and concentrating on the effects of their changing design – as a result of the reform process under way all over Europe – on women's retirement security. Retirement risks are of various natures. A simple characterization can be done by distinguishing among idiosyncratic and aggregate risks. Among the first, the most important are: longevity, survivorship, earnings and contribution risks. The disincentive effects of survivor pensions is lessened, since benefits have been both reduced and made more gender-neutral – in parallel with the general reduction, through reforms, of social security benefits. Pension crediting is more important in those countries where pensions are contributions-related, whereas residence-based flat-rate benefits (as in Denmark and the Netherlands) automatically cover periods spent out of labour for caring responsibilities.
