Older workers and pensioners: the challenge of ageing on the Italian public pension system and labour market

We review the main challenges related to ageing in Italy. Given the key role that working longer may have in order to tackle those challenges, from both a financial sustainability and pension adequacy perspectives, we focus upon the several issues which are relevant in order to increase elderly employment. The paper starts describing the demographic ageing process, then reviews the current labour market situation of older workers and the rules of the Italian pension system, fully documenting the changes already enacted and the current reform proposals made public by the Italian Government. The main purpose of the paper is that of providing a concise but detailed description of the Italian system. Taking account of the complex timing of the different pensions regimes existing over the forthcoming decades and of the evolution of the Italian labour market, however we also discuss the main policy challenges to an increase in elderly employment. These appear to differ very much across the relevant pension regimes, with a yet relevant role of the minimum pension access thresholds related to age and seniority in the forthcoming two decades.