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Free movement? The impact of legislation, benefit generosity and wages on the pensions of European migrants

Free movement? The impact of legislation, benefit generosity and wages on the pensions of European migrants
Free movement? The impact of legislation, benefit generosity and wages on the pensions of European migrants
European economic integration has always involved a commitment to the free movement of labour, services and capital. However, the development by European institutions of specific rights with respect to labour mobility has been slow. This paper explores this issue from the perspective of pension rights, among the most long-lasting for citizens. It shows that the literature on this topic has focussed mainly on EU regulations; their scope and limitations. The paper argues that, while important, this work has led to the neglect of a more fundamental issue: the potential impact on mobility of the relative generosity of pension schemes and large national wealth variations, an increasingly salient issue since the expansion of the EU into Eastern and Central Europe. Thus, on the basis of a detailed review of dominant intra-EU migratory patterns, the paper investigates the impact on pension rights of movement between Beveridgean and Bismarckian pension systems and between countries of substantially different wealth. It shows that lower income workers who move from Beveridgean to Bismarckian countries would be most at risk of pension losses. However, such movement is unusual: instead the majority of intra-European migrants move from Bismarckian systems of low generosity in the poorer east to Beveridgean and more generous Bismarckian in the richer west. Workers who make this move are more likely to experience pension gains than losses. For them, free movement is achieved.
eu migration, labour mobility, pension legislation, pensions generosity, bismarckian pension system, beveridgean pension system
1544-8444
714-726
Meyer, Traute
ee469bf0-ab32-43ac-9f25-1261c24123fe
Bridgen, Paul
6a2060f6-cbab-47d4-a831-ff82350055c9
Andow, Caroline
7eef2413-8231-4280-9bfe-0da6d96e9c22
Meyer, Traute
ee469bf0-ab32-43ac-9f25-1261c24123fe
Bridgen, Paul
6a2060f6-cbab-47d4-a831-ff82350055c9
Andow, Caroline
7eef2413-8231-4280-9bfe-0da6d96e9c22

Meyer, Traute, Bridgen, Paul and Andow, Caroline (2013) Free movement? The impact of legislation, benefit generosity and wages on the pensions of European migrants. Population, Space and Place, 19 (6), 714-726. (doi:10.1002/psp.1791).

Record type: Article

Abstract

European economic integration has always involved a commitment to the free movement of labour, services and capital. However, the development by European institutions of specific rights with respect to labour mobility has been slow. This paper explores this issue from the perspective of pension rights, among the most long-lasting for citizens. It shows that the literature on this topic has focussed mainly on EU regulations; their scope and limitations. The paper argues that, while important, this work has led to the neglect of a more fundamental issue: the potential impact on mobility of the relative generosity of pension schemes and large national wealth variations, an increasingly salient issue since the expansion of the EU into Eastern and Central Europe. Thus, on the basis of a detailed review of dominant intra-EU migratory patterns, the paper investigates the impact on pension rights of movement between Beveridgean and Bismarckian pension systems and between countries of substantially different wealth. It shows that lower income workers who move from Beveridgean to Bismarckian countries would be most at risk of pension losses. However, such movement is unusual: instead the majority of intra-European migrants move from Bismarckian systems of low generosity in the poorer east to Beveridgean and more generous Bismarckian in the richer west. Workers who make this move are more likely to experience pension gains than losses. For them, free movement is achieved.

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e-pub ahead of print date: 3 May 2013
Published date: November 2013
Keywords: eu migration, labour mobility, pension legislation, pensions generosity, bismarckian pension system, beveridgean pension system
Organisations: Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 348917
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/348917
ISSN: 1544-8444
PURE UUID: 713c9aa3-2f28-4645-a3f3-e00c485eb1f3
ORCID for Traute Meyer: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0767-8351
ORCID for Paul Bridgen: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-6039-3254

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Date deposited: 20 Feb 2013 12:21
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:06

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Contributors

Author: Traute Meyer ORCID iD
Author: Paul Bridgen ORCID iD
Author: Caroline Andow

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