Topical issues

Are pensions enough to cover income in retirement, particularly if one cannot work until the statutory retirement age? Will caregiving towards the end of one’s career affect continued working? How do family biographies affect income in retirement? The Finnish Centre for Pensions’ research webinar on 10 May presents the hot-off-the-print Social Policy & Administration Special Issue …

Mental disorders continue to be the most common reason for retirement on a disability pension. The largest single reason is depression, which drives ten persons to retire on a disability pension each day. Two out of three new retirees on a disability pension due to depression are women.

The average monthly pension of Finns grew by nearly 50 euros in 2020. In real terms, it has risen by an ample 200 euros in one decade. Yet every third pension is less than 1,250 euros per month.

Among opposite-sex couples, the significance of the female’s employment for the couple’s income increases if the male spouse falls seriously ill. A new study shows that highly educated women are better equipped to support the couple financially than women with a basic or average-level education.

Different forms of flexible retirement are gaining popularity around the world. One potential group of beneficiaries are older workers with difficulties in reaching their full retirement age due to poor health. The upcoming ETK research webinar on Monday 19 April presents new research on the relation between health, ageing and flexible retirement in Finland and abroad.

The number of new partial old-age pensions grew only slightly in 2020. At the end of the year, a total of 29,000 persons were drawing a partial old-age pension. Statistics of the Finnish Centre for Pensions shows that one third of them have reduced working.

Municipal sector employees retire on a partial disability pension three times more often than private sector employees. Research shows that the partial disability pension is also more frequently taken out by women.

Director of Research Venla Berg (Population Research Institution) and Lead Specialist Timo Aro (Consultancy for Regional Development MDI) both stress that improving the birth rate in Finland requires changes in working life and more child- and family-friendly public policies.

The Finnish earnings-related pension system survived the corona year 2020 unscathed. Pension assets increased by seven billion euros, reaching 225 billion euros at year’s end. This growth was mainly driven by robust return on investments later in the year.

In 2020, Finns retired on an earnings-related pension five months later than in 2019, at 61.9 years on average. A total of 42,000 persons retired on an old-age pension, which is slightly fewer than in 2019. Continued working raised the employment rate among the elderly to a record-high level.