ABSTRACT

Tracing a lengthy provenance, debate around the complex balance of responsibility for income in retirement is discussed, citing the analytical value of adopting a comparative perspective. The growth of employer-run pensions is closely linked to the growth of ‘welfare capitalism’; with pressures on pension funds in recent years, in particular ‘final salary schemes’, trade unions have taken an increasing interest in the need to defend occupational pension benefits in the face of sustained employer initiatives to alter them. Theoretical interpretation and the advantages and disadvantages of types of and challenges for pension schemes are discussed.