Population aging and the rising costs of public pension in Brazil

This article examines the evolution of retirement in Brazil and its old-age support programs (public pension). The key objective is to show that given the current trend in population and size of the programs, their sustainability in the near future may be endangered. In this paper, we also provide a measure of public pension expenditure under different policy scenarios. This paper provides empirical evidence indicating that the absence of appropriate policies can aggravate adverse effects of population aging. We show that the public pension system works less efficiently than desired and that it is already in a weaker condition than systems in more developed nations. We contribute to the debate on how critical policy areas may reduce the potential economic impact of demographic changes.