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FOUR PILLARS
Head of Research: Geneviève Reday-Mulvey
► The research programme
► The research programme
The Four Pillars Programme of The Geneva Association is a research programme set up in 1987 with the aim of studying the key importance in the new service economy of Social Security, Insurance, Savings and Employment. The programme focuses on the future of pensions, welfare and employment.
The main reasons for this programme have been:
■ complementarity between social security and insurance;
■ the changing perspective of the welfare state, employment and the life-cycles;
■ changing demography and its financing impact.
The Geneva Association launched its "Four Pillars" Research Programme with a view to identifying possible solutions to the issue of the future financing of pensions and, more generally, to organising social security systems. Demographic trends – especially increased life expectancy – could be seen as positive if we were able to devise ways of enabling "ageing in good-health populations" to make a valid economic and social contribution to the functioning of our service economies over the decades to come.
The concept of the Four Pillars owes its origin to the fact that, in most countries, the funding of pensions is based on three pillars:
■ the 1st pillar – the compulsory, pay-as-you-go, state pension;
■ the 2nd pillar – the supplementary (often funded-based) occupational pension;
■ the 3rd pillar – individual savings (personal pension and assets and life insurance).
In our publications and seminars, we have advocated the adaptation of the 1st pillar, a strengthening of the 2nd pillar and further development of 3rd pillar resources. However, our attention has focused above all on a 4th pillar, i.e. the future need for a flexible extension of work-life, mainly on a part-time basis, in order to supplement income from the three existing pillars.
The research programme has four main objectives:
■ analysis of the key elements in organising old-age security systems;
■ research of conditions for multi-pillar systems of pension financing;
■ encouragement of multiple and complementary solutions to the challenges of a changing welfare state;
■ understanding the role of insurance in the provision of old-age security systems.
► The Silver Workers Institute
Created in 2007, the Silver Workers Institute is an independent and apolitical research and advisory centre based in Geneva with an international focus on labour/work issues for seniors engaged in any productive activity, from both a company and public policy perspective. The Institute was established following an important survey of post-retirement activities – economic and voluntary work by frequently ‘retired’ persons – in Germany. This new piece of research was conjointly conducted by the Leuphana University of Lueneburg and The Geneva Association. The Silver Workers Institute is closely related to the Four Pillars research programme launched by The Geneva Association in 1987.
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► Other projects in Europe
Mature@eu Project 2007-2008
The European Union Leonardo Da Vinci project website mature@eu was coordinated by the Vienna based ZSI (Center for Social Innovation) and aimed at supporting HR Managers to recruit and retain older employees through developing effective age neutral personnel policies.
The pilot project mature@eu - Supporting Employers In Recruiting And Selecting Mature Aged Persons -responds to the low level of labour market participation of elderly employees in most of the European member states in general and to the existing structural barriers to be found in enterprises recruitment policies in particular. Mature@eu is directly concerned with providing an integrated support package to Business Leaders, Equal Opportunities Representatives, HRM, Trade Union Officers and Worker Representatives based on online-accessible materials. mature@eu focuses on the ICT sector which its significant youth-oriented culture and image.
The mature@eu Toolbox is a set of innovative materials, which will assist in the implementation of age-diverse recruitment policies and practices. This toolbox contains over 292 materials, like assessment tools, checklists, guidelines, self evaluation tools, pod casts and others, all of which will aid those with an influence on or are involved with personnel recruitment.
A significant set of good practice examples, key figures and reports focus on Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Netherlands, Slovenia and United Kingdom. Any information about other innovative material which could be included into the toolbox is welcome.
Contact: Maga. Maria Theresia Schwarz-Wölzl, Project leader.
New Dynamics Programme of Ageing Programme 2007-2015
The New Dynamics of Ageing Programme is a seven year multidisciplinary research initiative with the ultimate aim of improving quality of life of older people. The programme is a unique collaboration between five UK Research Councils - ESRC, EPSRC, BBSRC, MRC and AHRC - and is the largest and most ambitious research programme on ageing ever mounted in the UK. It covers various fields such as Ageing Well Across the Life Course (Active Ageing, Autonomy and Independence, Later Life Transitions, The Oldest Old) and Ageing and its Environments (Resources for Ageing, Locality, Place and Participation, The Built and Technological Environment, The Global Dynamics of Ageing).
Director: Prof. Alan Walker, Professor of Social Policy and Social Gerontology at the University of Sheffield, UK.
► Recent seminars and conferences
ISSA (International Social Security Association), 3rd International Research Conference on Social Security “Social Security and the Labour Market: A Mismatch?”, 5-7 March 2007, Warsaw. The Geneva Association organised and chaired the session “Can Insurance and Savings Mechanisms encourage Labour market Flexibility?”
Conference at the University of Geneva, Chances et Défis du Vieillissement, 6-11 November 2006, Geneva.
Congress VIVA 50+ – World Ageing and Generations Congress, 29 September-1 October 2005, St Gallen. The Geneva Association organised and chaired two sessions on The Future of Pensions and on Policies for Senior Employment.
2nd Conference on Health, Ageing and Work, with the support of the Central European Initiative and hosted by Assicurazioni Generali, 21-22 October 2004, Trieste.
The Economics of an Ageing Society: The Future of Funded Systems in Europe, organised jointly with SwissRe and Avenir Suisse.
Work Beyond 60: Preparing for the Demographic Shock, joint conference with the Club of Rome and the Risk Institute, 6-7 March 2003, Vienna.
First Four Pillars Social Security Lecture, Securing the Future for Old Age in Europe, given par Prof. Alan Walker, Sheffield University, 9 April 2002, Madrid.
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► The Geneva Papers on Four Pillars
Vol. 28, No. 4, October 2003, Studies on the Four Pillars
Vol. 26, No. 4, October 2001, Studies on the Four Pillars
► Etudes et Dossiers on the Four Pillars of the last 10 years
No. 335, November 2007, The New Welfare: The Counter-Ageing Society, "Lengthening of Life-cycle, Employment, Pensions and Health", Turin, 8 October 2007.
No. 330, August 2007, Silver Workers : An Empirical Study of Post-Retirement Activities – Economic and Voluntary Work of Retired Staff, Research Report
N0. 316, June 2007 (updated version): The Geneva Association’s Four Pillars Research Programme, Summary of Research Programme “The Four Pillars”, Information, Contacts and Links
No. 312, April 2006: VIVA 50 Plus World Ageing & Generations Congress, St-Gallen, 29 September-1 October 2005
No. 288, December 2004: 2nd Health and Ageing Conference, “Health, Ageing and Work – Strategies for the New Welfare Society in the Larger Europe”, Trieste, 21-23 October 2004
No. 285, September 2004: Follow-up of International Symposium in Cambridge – Public Policy, Ageing and Work and Related Papers on Europe and China
No. 271, June 2003: Work Beyond 60: Preparing for the Demographic Shock, Vienna, 6-7 March 2003
No. 270, June 2006: Public Policy, Ageing and Work – An International Symposium, St Catherine’s College, Cambridge, 17-19 December 2002
No. 268, April 2003: Encouraging an Extended Working Life – Recent Policies and Best Practice in Europe, A report prepared for the Avenir Suisse Foundation
► Books
Working Beyond 60 – Key Policies and Practices in Europe, by G. Reday-Mulvey, forewords by P. M. Liedtke and A. Walker, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2005.
Encourager une vie professionnelle prolongée, by G. Reday-Mulvey, Avenir Suisse, Zurich, 2002.
To suscribe to the Four Pillars Newsletter, please click here.
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The Four Pillars No. 42
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Volume: 42, March 2008
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The Four Pillars No. 41
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Volume: 41, September 2007
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The Four Pillars No. 40
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Volume: 40, March 2007
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The Four Pillars No. 39
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Volume: 39, September 2006
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The Four Pillars No. 38
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Volume: 38, March 2006
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Insurance Economics No. 58
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General Information No. 185
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Etudes et Dossiers No. 345 - 4th Liability Regimes Conference
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PRESS RELEASE - 40 Insurance and Reinsurance CEOs Surveyed on Strategic Industry Issues
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PROGRES No. 47
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