British Academy: The UK's National Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences
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Why has it all gone wrong? The past, present and future of British pensions
Wednesday 15 June 2005
The British Academy
10 Carlton House Terrace
London SW1Y 5AH
Convenors:
Dr Hugh Pemberton, Bristol University
Professor Pat Thane, Institute of Historical Research
Professor Noel Whiteside, Institute of Governance and Public Management, Warwick
Pensions and pension security present one of the most urgent political issues in Britain today. Why does Britain have the lowest rate of state pension and the most complex pension system of any high-income country? Why do so few people in Britain appear to understand the pension system or to save adequately for old age? What have other countries done to generate a more secure income for the elderly? The present situation is the outcome of decisions made in the public and private sectors over the past hundred years and history has an important contribution to make to supplying the answers to these questions. This symposium brings together leading experts on the past and present of pensions from a number of countries to debate the nature of the current pensions crisis and the way forward.
The Symposium has been generously sponsored by the British Academy, Zurich Financial Services and B&CE Group
For further information contact:
Meetings Department
The British Academy, 10 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1
Telephone: 020 7969 5246
Email: events@britac.ac.uk
Papers from this conference were published in 2006 as
Britain's Pensions Crisis: History and Policy
edited by Hugh Pemberton, Pat Thane & Noel Whiteside
(British Academy Occasional Paper, 7)