Given the interest raised by the first edition of Pensiones y prestaciones por desempleo (Pensions and Unemployment Benefits) (Fundación BBV, page 66), the BBV Foundation organized a number of debates on the question in 1996. Their conclusions have been included in the second edition. This work updates and extends the data of the previous edition with EU statistical tables following the entry of Austria, Sweden and Finland. It has been enriched by two new research projects, which have been added to the fifteen carried out previously.