Topical issues

According to statistics of the Finnish Centre for Pensions, nearly 21,000 new partial old-age pensions were paid out in Finland in 2023. The amount was one and a half times higher than the previously established amount, but 14,000 less than in 2022. The exceptional index development in 2022 encouraged people to retire early towards the end of the year.

Educational expansion has improved labour force participation of over-55-year-olds in the last decades. Particularly women’s education level has increased rapidly. Labour force participation of low-educated people has increased at a lower pace in several Member States of the European Union. This is evident from a fresh research article by the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

The accrued pension increases if a person continues to work beyond their retirement age, thanks to both the increment for late retirement and the additional pension accrued for continued working.

The Pro Gradu Award of the Finnish Centre for Pensions has been granted this year to Pellervo Ruponen (MSE). In his master’s thesis Predicting diagnosis classes from medical texts using deep transformer-based models, Ruponen examines the classification of texts in the assessment of disability pension applications.

The number of light entrepreneurs has grown rapidly in recent years. At the same time, the profile of light entrepreneurs has changed: they are increasingly younger, of foreign origin and have only a basic education. The Finnish Centre for Pensions’ study examines, for the first time, the careers, income and pension accrual of light entrepreneurs in Finland over a period of several years.

The investment year 2023 was challenging for pension funds in different parts of the world. The average real return of pension investors was less than 2 per cent. The yield of Finnish pension funds was even worse. Due to high inflation, the average real return 0.2 per cent negative. The average real return of Swedish pension funds was 1.2 per cent negative.

In Finland and Sweden, the old-age poverty risk varies greatly between men and women because clearly more women than men live alone. A research article by the Finnish Centre for Pensions reviews the gender differences in old-age poverty in 14 EU countries. The differences between the northern and southern countries are surprisingly large.

The Nordic countries are leading the way in introducing flexible pension options. How do those on flexible – often partial – pensions adjust their working patterns before taking a full old-age pension? What are the consequences of the objective of extending working lives?

Welcome to the English language research webinar of the Finnish Centre for Pensions on Monday 22 April 2024 at 2.00–3.15 p.m. (EEST) / 1.00–1.15 p.m. (CEST).

The Finnish average pension developed positively in 2023. At the same time, total pension expenditure increased – pensions were paid out totalling almost 38 billion euros. About 1.6 million Finns received a pension in 2023.

The short booklets “The ABCs of pensions for employees” and “The ABCs of pensions for the self-employed” have been updated. The online and printable two-page booklets provide key facts about earnings-related pensions for employees and the self-employed and are published by the Finnish Centre for Pensions. The figures are in 2024 prices.