Pensions, Fertility and Families

Public pay‐as‐you‐go pension systems induce low fertility rates, which in turn contribute to the insolvency of those very systems. They have replaced the old‐age security motive for having children, which is a major factor behind fertility in their absence. They also penalise fertility by externalising the contributions of children while leaving the costs of child‐bearing unaffected. Fertility rates could be raised by moving towards personal savings schemes or re‐linking pension benefits to fertility.