Samenvatting

The effects of global ageing are mostly felt in the developing world. Older populations are experiencing extreme poverty and cope with financial difficulties that obstruct their access to public health and social care (Shah, 2011). Governments of emerging economies manage the multi pillar system that includes state provision, collective and individual savings. According to the Pension & Development Network (P&D Network), current state provisions are not nearly enough for maintaining standard living conditions (The Pension & Development Network, 2009). The largest group of workers in developing countries have informal jobs that include not paying taxes or any form of governmental monitoring and exclusion of the gross national product, which does not make them attractive for banks and pension providers, this leaves this group in a critical financial situation (Schwarz, 2003, p. 8). Micro pension schemes are a good alternative that allow poor people to save small amounts of money over a long period of time, which in turn provides a steady income after their retirement. Since 2008, the P&D Network has launched micro pension projects that educate local micro finance institutions on to provide pension schemes to its clients (The Pension & Development Network, 2009). In order to increase more awareness and maintain the provision of micro pension products in the developing world, sponsorship needs to be taken to a higher level. Since the European Union is the largest institutional aid provider worldwide (European Commission), the institute could play a key role in proving funds to implement micro pension schemes on a larger scale.

Keywords: Global Ageing, Old-age Poverty, Micro Pension schemes, Multi Pillar System, Micro Finance Institutes, EuropeAid, Dependency Ratio