Comparative analysis of pension system types

The relevance of the research is conditioned by the fact that many countries of the world, including Russia, due to a number of socio-economic and demographic transformations face various problems of pension systems functioning (first of all, problems of financial sustainability and sufficiency of replacement of lost earnings to pensioners). The article presents a comparative analysis of different types of pension systems and types of pension provision. The aim of the research is to systematize the basic principles and mechanisms that form the pension systems of different countries, to determine their relationship with economic development and the level of population aging. The paper considers the essence of the pension system and pension provision, and describes their various classifications in detail. We pay special attention to the structure of Russia’s pension system. The work shows that Russia lags significantly behind many developed countries in terms of the replacement rate within the framework of mandatory pension provision. We determine that the classical division of pension systems by the principle of financing into pay-as-you-go, funded and mixed systems. Their advantages and disadvantages, as well as the prevailing types of pension provision and payments in the countries of the world are highlighted. We study the relationship between the current pension systems and the economic development rate of countries and the features of population aging in them, which constituted the scientific novelty of the paper. In particular, we find that in more developed countries with a deeper stage of population aging there is a greater diversity of pension programs, while changes mainly concern the pension system without the inclusion of additional benefits. Finally, it discusses possible ways in which pension systems can adapt to the increasing number of older people.