Population ageing under the combined pressure of a spectacularly increased life expectancy and, to some extent, a lower birth rate threatens the financial stability of the pay-as-you-go pension schemes introduced in many developed countries in the years following the Second World War.

Many economists, and most international organizations, have put forward reform measures to ensure the system’s long-term sustainability. However few major reforms have made it onto the statute book in the last decade, in Europe at least. With an estimated 15.7% if GDP going on pensions by the year 2050, according to the latest European Union forecasts, Spain is very much in the forefront of the problem.

The book will serve as a useful primer for resarchers, policy-makers and sections of public opinion wishing to come to grips with the complex question of the financial sustainability of public pension systems.