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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Austerity, ageing and the financialisation of pensions policy in the UK | | Author(s) | Craig Berry |
| Journal title | British Politics, vol 11, no 1, April 2016 |
| Pages | pp 2-25 |
| Source | doi:10.1057/bp.2014.19 |
| Keywords | Pensions ; Retirement policy ; Public finances ; Social economics ; United Kingdom. |
| Annotation | This article offers a detailed analysis of the recent history of pensions policy in the United Kingdom, culminating in two apparent revolutions in policy now underway: the introduction of automatic enrolment into private pensions, and proposals for a new single-tier state pension. These reforms are examples of the 'financialisation' of UK welfare provision, typified in pensions policy by the notion that individuals must take personal responsibility for their own long-term financial security, and must engage intimately with the financial services industry to do so. As such, the reforms represent the continuation of pensions policy between the Labour and Coalition governments, despite the Coalition government's novel rhetorical commitment to austerity. In fact, the pensions revolutions will actually cost the state significantly more than current arrangements; yet the importance of fears about population ageing means that the government is able to marshal the imagery of austerity to justify financialisation, but is also required to partly conceal the increased expenditure this requires. The article shows how the financialisation agenda in pensions policy was evident before the financial crisis, but has evolved to both take advantage of, and mitigate the constraints, of a post-crisis political climate. (OFFPRINT.) (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-161113003 A |
| Classmark | JJ: G5: WN5: W4: 8 * |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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