Denmark Ahead of Schedule on Meeting White Paper Goals

17 February 2012 (PLANSPONSOREurope.com) - Denmark is ahead of schedule in meeting the goals of the EC’s Pensions White Paper but more needs to be done to create equality between pensions for men and women in the country, Sara Lochte, senior consultant at Danish pension fund association F&P, has told PLANSPONSOR Europe.

Following yesterday’s publication of the White Paper on creating adequate and sustainable pensions, Lochte said: “We are ahead of most of the recommendations but if we have to look for areas we can improve it would be the equality between men and women. But I think in comparison with other EU member states we are doing quite well.

“We have had for supplementary private pensions for many years and they cover almost all employees. Danish workers pay quite high percentages of between 10 and 15% of salaries each month. It is not totally mature but we consider ourselves to be ahead.

“The differences between men and women simply reflect the differences elsewhere but it becomes obvious in pensions because when you are leaving the workforce the differences during life have accumulated. The small differences reflect that women are more often part time workers – they do maternity leave and they withdraw from the workforce at an earlier age than men. All these small differences add up when it comes to pensions.”

PLANSPONSOREurope Staff
editors@plansponsoreurope.com