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The unexpectedly rapid ageing of the population makes it urgent that we design a system that will encourage those who can provide for their own retirement while helping those who reach the end of their working lives with insufficient wealth to sustain what society regards as an acceptable standard of living. These objectives frequently - and perhaps inherently - conflict. In dealing as best they can with the inevitable trade-offs, policymakers need to have three important questions (among many others) in mind.
First, is the financial support offered to pensioners by the state in retirement sustainable in terms of the burden it places on the working population, who pick up most of the bill in the form of taxation? Second, are the mechanisms by which the private financial sector helps people save for retirement sustainable in the sharing of risk between employers and employees? And, third, is the way in which the state and private systems interact sustainable in the sense that the combination promises people a reasonable degree of financial security without creating unduly powerful disincentives for them to work and save? Research in this area looks at these questions. We look in detail at the impact of various government reforms and proposals for reform to the pension system. 
The objectives of this project is to study how individuals' labour supply is affected by the structure of the tax and benefit system and to what extent the different work patterns observed in France, the UK and the US (and how these have changed over time) can be explained by the different tax and benefit structures. The project aims at using household data sets and microsimulation models of tax and benefit systems in a comparable manner across these three countries.
This project investigates the nature of retirement saving. In particular we make use of individual and household level data on patterns of saving and savings.
This project investigates the nature of retirement saving. In particular we make use of the English Longitudinal Survey of Ageing to examine the determinants of retirement saving and retirement ages.
This project is being co-ordinated through RAND in California and brings together a large international group of researchers. By using new data and a number of different modeling approaches it aims to improve understanding of retirement decisions particularly considering what makes people reduce their work effort later in life than we have to date.
Preparation and presentation of a paper at an ESRC seminar on “Pensions, Pensioners and Pensions Policy” to also include brainstorming sessions, writing the research booklet and fielding any associated media enquiries.
The centre for economic research on ageing gathers together IFS research about ageing and will take it forward on a coherent basis, targeting the research towards the big policy questions in the economics of ageing. At the heart of the centre is the analysis, and design, of individual level data on all aspects of later life, including economic and social position, health and cognitive function. Such data is becoming increasingly available in many countries and cera researchers are working actively with economists and non-economists both nationally and internationally to bring the analysis of such data to the forefront of the policy debate.
Researchers at IFS monitor the changes in inequality across the population.
Health inequalities among the older population have important implications for a range
of policy issues as our population continues to age.
Working with the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at UCL this project aims to show how pension arrangements and incentives relate to other individual circumstances such as income, wealth, broader measures of socio-economic position, physical and mental health and functioning, the nature of work and leisure activities and family circumstances.
This research involved some secondary analysis of data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) to allow the Pensions Commission to carry out comparisons of a MORI survey with the ELSA data, to provide additional information on the pensions arrangements of LSA respondents and to provide additional information on the expectations of ELSA respondents.
This work examines in some detail the Department’s new pension simulation model looking at the assumptions that underpin the model and considering how it might be improved.
Current research is looking at changes in wealth in the over 50 population and continuing to look at consumption around retirement in order to understand the adequacy of retirement saving.
Research in this area has focused on policy design issues arising from recent announcements, and in particular, ISAs and Stakeholder Pensions, Pension Credit, MIG and State Second Pension. Current research continues to look at general and specific issues in pension policy, particularly in the light of the recent Green Paper.
This work updates earlier research looking at the proposals for the Pension Credit.
The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing is an exciting new study, the aim of ELSA is to become an interdisciplinary data resource on health, economic position and quality of life as people age.
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