Topical issues

Pension assets increased by 33 billion euros last year, particularly due to a robust return on pension providers’ investments. Pension contribution income also developed favourably due to the growing wage sum. Low inflation curbed expenditure.

The earnings-related pension field and Tax Administration will launch two joint trials. In both of them, 25,000 citizens will receive a message via the MyTax service. The message encourages the recipient to check their pension record via the web service of their pension provider. The customer is steered to the web service via a joint steering service.

Although the employment rate in Finland has exceeded its pre-corona level, the number of long-term unemployed has not improved. Many of those who lost their jobs during the pandemic are still unemployed. Focus should be put on the hard-to-employ, particularly those with disabilities and immigrants. A state-owned special assignment company Työkanava has been established to create meaningful jobs for people with disabilities.

In 2021, the number of new retirees on a disability pension declined by more than eight per cent. The decline was evenly distributed between the main disease categories. Mental disorders continue to be the most common cause for retirement on a disability pension. The single most common cause is depression – on average, it causes nine persons a day to retire on a disability pension.

Nearly three out of four employers state that working with typical tasks at the workplace until age 65 is possible. Yet, according to a new study by the Finnish Centre for Pensions, most employers doubt that working lives will be extended at their own place of business.

Does poverty in old age develop differently compared to other age groups? Why are women often at a higher risk of poverty than men? Does it matter for perceived income adequacy from which source the income comes from? Join our webinar (Teams) on Monday 14 March to hear more about and to discuss these questions.

In 2021, the Finns retired on an earnings-related pension six months later than in 2020. The average effective retirement age was 62.4 years. Half of this increase can be explained by the rising retirement age and half by the surprisingly big drop in the number of new retirees on a disability pension.

The number of A1 certificates granted for work abroad continued to grow in 2021 but fell short of the pre-pandemic level. The Customer Service of the Finnish Centre for Pensions received many inquiries concerning telecommuting from abroad.

On average, the wages of men increase by 3.4 per cent and of women by 3.0 per cent when changing jobs. Highly educated men benefit the most from job mobility. Women have surpassed men when it comes to the number of job changes.

The social security agreement between Finland and Japan came into force on 1 February 2022. As the agreement now enters into force, workers posted to a Contracting State avoid double pension and un-employment insurance contributions.