Pension provision, lifetime financial sustainability, care and dignity in old age: legal and economic issues

The legal, policy and economic issues associated with pension provision, lifetime financial sustainability, and care and dignity in old age and their implications for home life are fundamental challenges for the future of our society. Pension provision is in crisis and this chapter highlights the crucial policy choices and regulatory challenges. It considers the importance of the ‘nuclear family’ and the ‘extended family’ in the provision of care, from child care to old-age care. The home, supported by the wider society, is the natural environment in which such provision is best anchored. An adequate legal and regulatory framework for pensions needs to balance a number of competing interests, bearing in mind the implications in terms of intergenerational debt of the financing of care and income in old age, and the broader social-justice considerations in the design of pension schemes that safeguard dignity in old age in a market economy.