There is not a single country in the world that has a "first class" pension system, according to the Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index. Some were once first class, but thanks to low economic growth and an ageing population are now in need of improvement (Denmark and the Netherlands); most are barely adequate; and some are utterly unsustainable (Japan, Italy). The UK doesn't come out too badly. We get a C+ (Denmark gets a B+) and our sustainability ratio is just under 50% (see Mercer.com.au for how the numbers are calculated) against 38% in France and China, 40% in Germany, and 16% in Italy.
There is however a very long way to go if we want to move up to B+ level. Mercer says we should accelerate the rises in our state pension age; increase the minimum pension payable to the poor; bump up auto-enrolment both in terms of the amount we have people pay in and the number of people covered; and finally restore the requirement that some part of all private-pension provision must come as guaranteed income.
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