Midthassel, S: Work, Pension and Reform

As societies are aging across the world, political and public awareness of this ongoing demographic development is increasing, as are the requests for profound analysis and research on the subject. One of the major consequences of aging societies is decreasing ratios of people of traditional working- age to people outside the labour market. Without reform, projected pension benefit levels are expected to exceed projected pension contributions, resulting in increased deficits in pension accounts as well as in public finances in general. . Public provision of health and long-term care for the elderly will only add to the burden. OECD outlines seven principles for reform in responding to the challenges of ageing populations. This work primarily focuses on current reforms in the pension system, pension income and the employability of older workers and how reforms in Norway and Denmark comply with the normative principles of OECD and the Scandinavian welfare state. Is it possible to maintain generous universal pension benefits while ensuring the sustainability of the overall pension system? And how is the burden of an ageing population to be fairly distributed?