Abstract.Day4.Binder

The Old Age Orientation of European Welfare States

Bernhard Binder-Hammer and Alexia Fürnkranz-Prskawetz

The social support systems in European countries differ considerably in their old age orientation, i.e. how much of the income of the working age population is redistributed to the elderly population. Considering the age- and the income dimension together shows, that the old age orientation of welfare states depends on how generous pension systems are to those with high income. Our analysis of public transfers in European countries is based on aggregate data from the European system of accounts and harmonized European micro data. We use the National Transfer Accounts methodology to estimate public transfers between generations, and additionally distinguish by income quartiles. the results show that southern European countries redistribute strongly to the rich elderly population and provide little support to the younger age groups, while Northern European countries provide social support, but little transfers to the rich elderly.