Demographic changes and pension reform in Italy

The author comments on recent pension reforms carried out in Italy. He suggests that "the promise to renounce real indexing of pensions appears to be a ¿sham', used in order to make the initial pension award more generous but impossible to maintain. Equalization will be necessary and will once again unhinge the financial balance of the system, because the rate of return will be pushed above the growth of overall wages and the golden rule will be violated. Moreover, individual rates of return on contributions will again be diversified, favouring those working people whose retirement period is longer (in terms of the working life) and/or characterized by more frequent or more generous adjustments."