ABSTRACT
Most industrialised countries have a government pension scheme that requires employed workers to pay taxes on their earnings while they work in return for pension benefits when they retire. A supplementary state earnings-related pension scheme (SERPS) was introduced in 1978 to provide additional income to those who were not members of an employer pension scheme. Most European Union (EU) member states have recently reviewed or are in the process of reviewing their pension systems, as their social security systems come under increasing pressure not only from the demographic ageing of their populations but also the maturing of existing schemes typically established since the Second World War. Social security is the responsibility of a large number of funds under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health and social security. Economic integration and monetary union are making all member states more conscious of neighbouring policies.
