Careers advisors’ opinion of the College of Occupational Therapists Careers Video

Using a mixed methodology, this study investigated the effectiveness of the College of Occupational Therapists’ careers video in increasing the knowledge of six careers advisers about the profession and obtained their views of the video as a promotional tool. To quantify the advisers’ knowledge, a pre-test post-test questionnaire was used before and after viewing the video. A short qualitative interview then ascertained their impressions of the video. Despite a high baseline knowledge, viewing the video was effective in increasing it. The advisers had mixed opinions about the video, suggesting that it could be improved and clarified

Reforming Social Security and Social Safety Net Programs in Developing Countries

[Excerpt] Developing country governments around the world, as well as the development agencies advising them, have become increasingly alarmed about the cost of social security systems and social safety net programs and economic inefficiencies resulting from these programs\u27 operation. Taken together, both social security and safety net programs may be jointly referred to as economic security programs . In this paper we identify the main sources of economic insecurity facing developing country populations, highlight the ways in which existing social safety net and social security programs meet (or fail to meet) these risks, and draw out some high-priority reforms required to help such programs meet the challenges of the 1990s and beyond. Finally, we enumerate several steps that international agencies could take which would dramatically enhance the environment in which these reforms are carried out

Estimating the Effects of Changing Social Security Benefit Formulas

[Excerpt] The U.S. Social Security system faces serious financial difficulties in both the short and the long run. The short-run problem is that the system has very meager financial reserves. In the long run—after the year 2010, when the post-World-War-II baby-boom generation reaches retirement age—the financial problems of Social Security will intensify because of population aging and the consequent decline in the ratio of workers to retirees. These problems have led to proposed reforms aimed at assuring the financial stability of the system. The question addressed here is: what effects would these reforms have on three variables—retirement ages, retirement incomes, and the Social Security system? This paper highlights the estimated effects of four actual or proposed policy changes. The basic model and some of the effects are drawn from previous work. However, the estimates of the effects of Social Security reforms on the Social Security system itself are new

How ordinary consumers make complex economic decisions: financial literacy and retirement readiness

This paper explores who is financially literate, whether people accurately perceive their own economic decision-making skills, and where these skills come from. Self-assessed and objective measures of financial literacy can be linked to consumers’ efforts to plan for retirement in the American Life Panel, and causal relationships with retirement planning examined by exploiting information about respondent financial knowledge acquired in school. Results show that those with more advanced financial knowledge are those more likely to be retirement-ready

Building an environment for pension reform in developing countries

Fiscal problems are prompting many developing nations to amend and sometimes restructure their national old-age programs. As they do, these countries seek guidance on how to design market and regulatory structures to enhance their chances of success. This paper investigates the types of risks facing participants in retirement systems, and examines which financial, regulatory, and labor market institutions appear most supportive of retirement system reforms, and most urgently needed, in developing countries.Insurance&Risk Mitigation,Banks&Banking Reform,Pensions&Retirement Systems,Environmental Economics&Policies,Financial Intermediation

Planning and financial literacy : how do women fare?

Many older US households have done little or no planning for retirement, and there is a substantial population that seems to undersave for retirement. Of particular concern is the relative position of older women, who are more vulnerable to old-age poverty due to their longer longevity. This paper uses data from a special module we devised on planning and financial literacy in the 2004 Health and Retirement Study. It shows that women display much lower levels of financial literacy than the older population as a whole. In addition, women who are less financially literate are also less likely to plan for retirement and be successful planners. These findings have important implications for policy and for programs aimed at fostering financial security at older ages