Social Development & Welfare Planning

A Comparative analysis of the social security system of selected countries and Iran; Lessons for policy-making

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Leili Niakan 1
Narges Akbarpour-Roshan 2

1 General Insurance Group, Insurance Research Center, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Microeconomics and Public Sector, Faculty of Economics, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22054/qjsd.2024.75350.2516
Abstract
A proper and accurate analysis of a country's pension system and its comparative examination with other countries’ are important components of policy analysis and reform design. Although countries have significant economic, social, cultural, and political differences, and it is not possible to propose a unified model for all countries’ pension systems, valuable practical lessons can be learned from reviewing the experiences of countries around the world. In this regard, this study aims to extract policy recommendations for Iran by examining the experiences of six countries, including countries with economic similarities to Iran (Turkey, Russia, and India) and countries with successful social security systems (Netherlands, UK, and Germany). For this purpose, based on the most important published documents and information, selected countries were analyzed and compared in seven key areas, including their economic and labor market variables, demographic variables, social protection systems, global ranking of pension systems, characteristics and parameters of public pension schemes, generosity of pension programs, and reforms in the pension system. The findings of this research showed that Iran's pension system is much far from the ideal situation and therefore needs some essential reforms. Based on this, the article provides recommendations in three areas of policies regarding the macro environment, social protection system, and pension funds.

Keywords

Social Security
Pension funds
Pension
Reforms
Policymaking
Subjects

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Social Development & Welfare Planning
Volume 15, Issue 61
Winter 2025
Pages 351-409

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