Pension Design and Gender: Analyses of Developed and Developing Countries

In this article the authors examine different ways of organizing and financing pension systems in China, France, Ghana, Jordan, Mexico, Poland, and Sweden. They explore the advantages and disadvantages of the combinations of different features with special reference to gender differences. Men and women have different patterns of work history, with women usually having a lower participation rate in the formal labor market, including interrupted careers in response to child rearing, as well as lower wages in general. Women have a longer life expectancy than men and are more likely to become widows than men are to become widowers. These differences influence the financial resources available to women in old age, depending on how a pension system is designed.