IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/hdnspu/21312.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Pension reform, financial literacy and public information : a case study of the United Kingdom

Author

Listed:
  • Whitehouse, Edward

Abstract

This paper, the first in a series on public information, and pension reform to explore issues examining a range of country experiences, looks at the experience in the United Kingdom (UK), where a number of initiatives to improve general, and individual pension information, are described, and assessed. The UK pension system is briefly described, to then focus on the consumer knowledge of pensions, and the lack of confidence in a complex and rapidly changing pension system, indifference to retirement-income planning, and problems in getting trustworthy advice. Current and planned initiatives to improve both general pensions, and financial knowledge and information about individual pension rights, - from government financial regulators, and the private sector - are then assessed. Pension reforms in the UK emphasize private funding, rather than state, pay-as-you-go provision, promote defined-contribution, rather than defined-benefit schemes, and in particular they should lead to lower administrative charges with private pensions, and greater flexibility in changing contribution levels as family finances require. The report highlights the importance of the role of public information in preparing for, and promoting reform, in ensuring people understand the choices open to them, and thedecisions they are expected to make, but mostly, public information should address, and ensure the understanding of the pension system.

Suggested Citation

  • Whitehouse, Edward, 2000. "Pension reform, financial literacy and public information : a case study of the United Kingdom," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 21312, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:hdnspu:21312
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2000/12/15/000094946_0011210532097/Rendered/PDF/multi_page.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Whitehouse, Edward, 1998. "Pension reform in Britain," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 20053, The World Bank.
    2. Ronald Lee & Jonathan Skinner, 1999. "Will Aging Baby Boomers Bust the Federal Budget?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 117-140, Winter.
    3. Gavin Brown & Paul Draper & Eddie McKenzie, 1997. "Consistency of UK Pension Fund Investment Performance," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(2), pages 155-178.
    4. Meghir, Costas & Whitehouse, Edward, 1997. "Labour market transitions and retirement of men in the UK," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 79(2), pages 327-354, August.
    5. Richard Disney & Robert Palacios & Edward Whitehouse, 1999. "Individual choice of pension arrangement as a pension reform strategy," IFS Working Papers W99/18, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    6. Palacios, Robert & Whitehouse, Edward, 1998. "The role of choice in the transition to a funded pension system," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 20109, The World Bank.
    7. Brown, Stephen J & Goetzmann, William N, 1995. "Performance Persistence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(2), pages 679-698, June.
    8. Richard Disney & Tanner, Tanner, 1999. "What can we learn from retirement expectations data?," IFS Working Papers W99/17, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    9. Blake, David & Lehmann, Bruce N & Timmermann, Allan G, 1997. "Performance Measurement using Multiple Asset Class Portfolio Data," CEPR Discussion Papers 1618, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Richard Disney & Costas Meghir & Edward Whitehouse, 1994. "Retirement behaviour in Britain," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 15(1), pages 24-43, February.
    11. Richard Disney, 1995. "Occupational pension schemes: prospects and reforms in the UK," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 16(3), pages 19-39, September.
    12. Sarah Tanner, 1998. "The dynamics of male retirement behaviour," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 175-196, May.
    13. DeMarco, Gustavo & Rofman, Rafael & Whitehouse, Edward, 1998. "Supervising mandatory funded pension systems : issues and challenges," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 20113, The World Bank.
    14. Alan L. Gustman & Thomas L. Steinmeier, 1989. "The Stampede Toward Defined Contribution Pension Plans: Fact or Fiction?," NBER Working Papers 3086, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Martha Starr-McCluer & Annika E. Sunden, 1999. "Workers' knowledge of their pension coverage: a reevaluation," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 1999-05, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    16. Teresa Ghilarducci, 1992. "Labor's Capital: The Economics and Politics of Private Pensions," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262071398, December.
    17. Armando Barrientos, 1998. "Supplementary pension coverage in Britain," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 19(4), pages 429-446, November.
    18. Dilnot, Andrew & Disney, Richard & Johnson, Paul & Whitehouse, Edward, 1994. "Pensions policy in the UK: An economic analysis," MPRA Paper 10478, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Whitehouse, Edward, 1998. "Pension Reform in Britain," MPRA Paper 14175, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Disney, Richard & Whitehouse, Edward, 1999. "Pension plans and retirement incentives," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 20851, The World Bank.
    3. Whitehouse, Edward, 2000. "Paying for pensions: An international comparison of administrative charges in funded retirement-income systems," MPRA Paper 14171, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Whitehouse, Edward, 2000. "Administrative charges for funded pensions : an international comparison and assessment," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 23140, The World Bank.
    5. Palacios, Robert, 2006. "Civil-service pension schemes around the world," MPRA Paper 14796, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. James Banks & Carl Emmerson, 2000. "Public and private pension spending: principles, practice and the need for reform," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 21(1), pages 1-63, March.
    7. Srinivas, P.S. & Whitehouse, Edward & Yermo, Juan, 2000. "Regulating private pension funds’ structure, performance and investments: cross-country evidence," MPRA Paper 14753, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Richard Disney & Carl Emmerson & Sarah Smith, 2004. "Pension Reform and Economic Performance in Britain in the 1980s and 1990s," NBER Chapters, in: Seeking a Premier Economy: The Economic Effects of British Economic Reforms, 1980–2000, pages 233-274, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Richard Disney & Robert Palacios & Edward Whitehouse, 1999. "Individual choice of pension arrangement as a pension reform strategy," IFS Working Papers W99/18, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    10. Whitehouse, Edward, 2001. "Pension systems in 15 countries compared: the value of entitlements," MPRA Paper 14751, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Disney, Richard & Whitehouse, Edward, 1992. "The personal pensions stampede," MPRA Paper 10476, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Fabrice Hervé, 2003. "La persistance de la performance des fonds de pension individuels britanniques:une étude empirique sur des fonds investis en actions et des fonds obligataires," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 6(3), pages 41-77, September.
    13. Sarah Tanner, 1998. "The dynamics of male retirement behaviour," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 175-196, May.
    14. Richard Disney & Tanner, Tanner, 1999. "What can we learn from retirement expectations data?," IFS Working Papers W99/17, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    15. Rocha, Roberto & Vittas, Dimitri, 2001. "Pension reform in Hungary : a preliminary assessment," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2631, The World Bank.
    16. Disney, Richard & Emmerson, Carl & Wakefield, Matthew, 2006. "Ill health and retirement in Britain: A panel data-based analysis," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 621-649, July.
    17. Haardt, David, 2006. "Transitions out of and back to employment among older men and women in the UK," ISER Working Paper Series 2006-20, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    18. Alda, Mercedes & Andreu, Laura & Sarto, José Luis, 2017. "Learning about individual managers’ performance in UK pension funds: The importance of specialization," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 654-667.
    19. Matallín-Sáez, Juan Carlos & Soler-Domínguez, Amparo & Tortosa-Ausina, Emili, 2016. "On the robustness of persistence in mutual fund performance," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 192-231.
    20. Richard Disney, 1996. "Ageing and saving," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 17(2), pages 83-101, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Banks&Banking Reform; Non Bank Financial Institutions; Public Sector Economics; Health Economics&Finance; Pensions&Retirement Systems;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wbk:hdnspu:21312. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Aaron F Buchsbaum (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/wrldbus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.