Topical issues

Among opposite-sex couples, the significance of the female’s employment for the couple’s income increases if the male spouse falls seriously ill. A new study shows that highly educated women are better equipped to support the couple financially than women with a basic or average-level education.

Different forms of flexible retirement are gaining popularity around the world. One potential group of beneficiaries are older workers with difficulties in reaching their full retirement age due to poor health. The upcoming ETK research webinar on Monday 19 April presents new research on the relation between health, ageing and flexible retirement in Finland and abroad.

The number of new partial old-age pensions grew only slightly in 2020. At the end of the year, a total of 29,000 persons were drawing a partial old-age pension. Statistics of the Finnish Centre for Pensions shows that one third of them have reduced working.

Municipal sector employees retire on a partial disability pension three times more often than private sector employees. Research shows that the partial disability pension is also more frequently taken out by women.

Director of Research Venla Berg (Population Research Institution) and Lead Specialist Timo Aro (Consultancy for Regional Development MDI) both stress that improving the birth rate in Finland requires changes in working life and more child- and family-friendly public policies.

The Finnish earnings-related pension system survived the corona year 2020 unscathed. Pension assets increased by seven billion euros, reaching 225 billion euros at year’s end. This growth was mainly driven by robust return on investments later in the year.

In 2020, Finns retired on an earnings-related pension five months later than in 2019, at 61.9 years on average. A total of 42,000 persons retired on an old-age pension, which is slightly fewer than in 2019. Continued working raised the employment rate among the elderly to a record-high level.

The development of mortality greatly impacts the end results of pension projections. According to Eurostat’s population projection, the gaps in EU countries’ expected longevity will narrow. Eurostat projects that life expectancy in Finland will grow at a slower pace than projected by Statistics Finland. This would slow down the rise of the retirement age and improve pension benefits compared to national projections.

The EU and the UK have signed a new Trade and Cooperation Agreement that took effect from the beginning of this year. The new rules are applied to people going to work in the UK after 1 January 2021. Read our answers to some of the most frequently asked questions by people heading to the UK.

Most young people in Finland are in gainful employment at some point between ages 18 and 22. At the same time, they are building the beginnings of their future pension. One in ten young people in this age group have accrued a pension of almost 120 euros, according to a new study out by the Finnish Centre for Pensions.