Abstract:

The sustainability analysis of the national pension systems is a topic of current interest, given the importance of public policies in this area for individual and collective welfare. The increase of budgetary constraints due to lack of prudence and fiscal discipline from public authorities, aging population, declining fertility, are just some of the most important demo-economic state of being which have imposed and led to changing of support policies for elderly, seen as “pension systems designed for an earlier era in terms of their contribution rates, monthly benefits and retirement ages.” (Barr, Diamond, 2008). In this article we intend to examine to what extent the social protection system of pensioners in Romania is subject to the same types of constraints which are found in systems such as PAYGO within the developed EU countries. The proper comprehension of the situation is even more important as authoritarian voices of economic analysis (i.e. Stiglitz) have highlighted the fact that a careful analysis of various national or regional contexts is necessary to protect from public policies such as “one size fits all” policy used by some global or regional financial institutions. “In response to the question –What should we do about our pension system?-we should be wary of offering a single answer across the globe.”