Resource
Pacific: Universal Pensions in the Pacific Countries
Summary (English)
Universal pension schemes are rare in the world, in developing countries but also in developed countries where contributory social insurance and other contributory pensions are more frequent. Moreover, they are often more expensive than targeted social assistance pensions since they are also distributed to people in the high or middle income bracket, including those for example who could already have retirement pensions. However, a universal pension may be a solution to resolve some administrative or political dilemmas. One option is to provide universal benefits to groups such as the very elderly where there are grounds for concluding that most of the people in the group are poor.
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Note
Technical Paper published at the ILO Asia-Pacific Regional High-Level Meeting on Socially-Inclusive Strategies to Extend Social Security Coverage, held in New Delhi, India, 19-20 May 2008