Angel Curria of the OECD launched the first edition of “Pensions at a Glance: Latin America and the Caribbean” on April 20 at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington DC. The Pensions at a Glance report provides detailed comparative indicators of pension structures in 26 countries.
One key finding is that 63 to 83 million people in the region will be at risk of living in poverty by 2050 due to inadequate savings and pensions, as a result of only 45 per cent of workers contributing to any kind of retirement plan.
IDB president Luis Alberto Moreno, speaking at the April 20 meeting, said that governments in the region must act now to take advantage of “a demographic dividend that cannot be missed. If we get more people to contribute to our pension systems, and if we adjust the systems to rising life expectancy, we will be able to provide adequate coverage to future generations.”
One key finding of Pensions At a Glance is that today there are eight people of working age for every person in retirement, but that rate will drop to 2.5 to 1 by 2050, which underlines the need for governments to act now to ensure that workers are steered into adequate schemes while there is still time.