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Cashing out pension savings: An appropriate response to “temporary” income shortfalls?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2024

Bernard H. Casey Open the ORCID record for Bernard H. Casey [Opens in a new window]  and
Artan Mustafa Open the ORCID record for Artan Mustafa [Opens in a new window]
Bernard H. Casey*
Affiliation:
Social Economic Research, London and Frankfurt, UK and Germany
Artan Mustafa
Affiliation:
University of Business and Technology, Prishtina, Kosovo European University Institute, Fiesole, Italy
*
Corresponding author: Bernard H. Casey; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article examines premature withdrawals from pension funds that were initiated as responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. It looks at withdrawal programmes both in emerging market and in advanced economies. Although measures might have been expedient in countries where social protection systems (social assistance and job furlough schemes) are relatively underdeveloped, they could also be regressive. Furthermore, they undermined the concept of pension funds as retirement income resources and, in some cases, they might threaten people’s living standards once they became old. The paper also suggests that such withdrawal programmes have a populist flavour.

Keywords

pensionscovid-19special withdrawalssocial policyemerging market economiesadvanced economies
Type
Original Article
Information
Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy , First View , pp. 1 - 15
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Social Policy Association

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