Topical issues

According to a recent survey of newly retired people, financial incentives have contributed to later retirement for about one third of the respondents. However, just under one third feel that employer encouragement, improved leadership skills or valuing the experience of older workers would have persuaded them to continue working.

Each year, the Finnish Centre for Pensions grants a Pro Gradu Award to a distinguished Master’s thesis. The award is 2,000 euros. Nominate your own or your student’s master’s thesis for the award by 15 March 2024.

Based on an external evaluation commissioned by the Finnish Centre for Pensions, its research operations have developed positively compared to the evaluation of 2013. The research team, which is small in terms of number of researchers and budget, is efficient, productive and economical and produces high-quality research.

Why are pensions such a central part of a welfare state? Why is the Finnish pension system the most reliable one in the Nordics? The new book Understanding Finnish Pensions tells the success story of Finnish pensions. This easy-to-understand and concise book is particularly suitable for experts, decision makers and students who are interested in the Nordic welfare state.

Many persons who draw the partial old-age pension continue working as before, with-out changes to their wage level. Only every fifth person on this pension benefit seems to have cut down on working. This is evident in a recent study by the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

Employers who face difficulties recruiting workers are not necessarily more willing than other employers to hire persons over the age of 55. These employers invest in older workers only if they have a more positive perception of older workers than employers have on average. This is evident in a fresh research article by the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

Maarit Selin (M.Sc.) has been appointed Director of Information Management and member of the Management Group as of 1 March 2024. She will be responsible for the register services and information management at the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

At year-end 2022, every fifth under-68-year-old pensioner worked. That means 70,000 persons, of whom 40,000 were drawing an old-age pension. At year-end 2022, there were a total of 380,000 earnings-related pension recipients under the age of 68 years in Finland. The data stems from recent statistics of the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

In 2022, the median insured monthly earnings of employees were 3,000 euros. For the self-employed and farmers, the median monthly insured incomes were 1,350 euros. The largest earnings were received by those in the age group 45–49 years, recent statistics of the Finnish Centre for Pensions reveal.

Despite the shortage of skilled workers in Finland, the country’s Government makes it difficult for (labour) immigrants to enter the country, get permanent residence and citizenship, argues Senior Researcher Pasi Saukkonen (Urban Research and Statistics Unit of the City of Helsinki). More important than the number of immigrants is their successful integration, but the Finnish Government’s cuts in social security and required resources for integration affects integration unfavourably, Saukkonen argues.