Public Participation and the Pension Policy Process: The Citizen and Pension Reform [PEN-REF]
Welcome to the home-page of the PEN-REF project. The project aims to provide experience with public participation in the area of pension reform. Over a period of 27 months, the project consortium will test focus groups as a means of more direct citizen participation in the pension reform policy process. The basis for these group discussions, which will take place in four countries (Poland, Italy, France, and Austria), will be a thorough analysis of the political economy of pension reform in Europe. The results, we hope, will point towards ways of opening policy debates on pension reform in particular and welfare issues in general.
Abstract
The Changing social, political and demographic realities of the past decades provide formidable challenges to existing welfare systems. As a result, policy-makers are looking for new models and approaches to social protection that can withstand these challenges. Thus, pension reform has been high on the policy agenda of most EU and Accession Countries. Although pension reform experiences in different countries have been quite diverse, they all lack substantive input from stakeholder, in this case the public. The proposed project aims to provide the experience with public involvement in the field of policy reform which is missing in the field of pension. It will test focus groups as a means for more direct participation by the citizenry in the pension reform process. Focus groups in conjunction with a series of expert interviews, will also be used as a method for identifying and analysing those factors that are necessary for re-shaping welfare systems and rendering them capable for adjustment against the structural and demographic challenges faced.
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