Pensions in an ageing society – strains and pains of becoming older together

Miles, David

doi:10.1016/j.jeoa.2026.100623

File(s)

1-s2.0-S2212828X2600006X-main.pdf (2.68 MB)

Published version

Author(s)

Miles, David

Type

Journal Article

Abstract

I focus on three issues central to the economic impacts of changing demographics brought about by trends in life expectancy and in fertility. First, how might people adjust to longer lives when the scope of the state to devote funds to pensions and to health care will come under strain? Second, how great might the strain on the public finances be and how might it be alleviated? Third, how might individuals handle the effects of uncertainty when the ability of the state to offer insurance against risks might be reduced? I focus on the issues for the UK – a country with a set of challenges which is in many ways typical of rich countries. I argue that attempts to offset demographic change and the strains it brings by consistently high
immigration or by trying to boost fertility rates of the domestic population are likely to either have undesirable effects in the long run or be ineffective over almost any horizon. Instead, a combination of market forces,, and policies which take account of long run fiscal sustainability, will allow ageing populations to adjust.

Date Issued

2026-02-17

Date Acceptance

2026-02-10

Citation

Journal of the Economics of Ageing, 2026, 34 (1)

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/127785

DOI

10.1016/j.jeoa.2026.100623

ISSN

2212-828X

Publisher

Elsevier

Journal / Book Title

Journal of the Economics of Ageing

Volume

34

Issue

1

Copyright Statement

License URL

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Identifier

10.1016/j.jeoa.2026.100623

Publication Status

Published

Article Number

100623

Date Publish Online

2026-02-14