The welfare of Sweden's old-age pensioners in times of bust and boom from 1990

Bibliographic Data

ID11201540
AuthorsB Gustafsson (0000-0001-7177-9099, IZA - Institute of Labor Economics, corresponding author), Mats Johansson (0000-0002-6645-9047, National Agency for Social Insurance), Edward Palmer (0000-0002-3343-9066, Uppsala University)
Year2009
Volume29
Issue4
Pages539-561
Publication date2009-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAgeing and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0144-686X • E-ISSN: 1469-1779
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0144686x08008167
OpenAlexW2117718871
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited9

This study analyses the development of the economic wellbeing of Swedes aged 65 years and older from 1990. This period was characterised by Sweden's deepest and most prolonged recession since the Great Depression, but was then followed by buoyant growth. In a series of interventions from 1991 through to 1998, pensions were cut and their full price indexation abandoned. In spite of these dramatic measures, this study shows that pensioners fared better than the working-age population, but also that poverty among older Swedes increased in absolute terms. During the following years of rapid economic growth, in contrast, the growth in pensioners' income fell behind that of workers and their relative poverty increased. The analysis shows that the limited resources of many older Swedes put them close to a social poverty line. The study also shows that income inequality among older Swedes has grown with the increasing importance of capital income for the better off. We conclude that the increasing gap between better-off and worse-off older people raises issues about the future provision of expenditures on public services for them. The paper concludes that, overall, poverty among older people in Sweden remains low by international standards and that the Swedish welfare state has maintained its resilience

Demographic economics · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Political science · Population · Poverty · Recession · Social security · Sociology · Welfare · Welfare state · Demography · Employment and Welfare Studies · Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis · Global Health Care Issues

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