Fear of unaffordable pension systems not matched by appetite for reform, poll finds

Most Europeans believe their country’s state pension system will soon become unaffordable - but they also think the current scheme is not generous enough, and do not support options for overhauling it.

- Jon Henley

As populations age and fertility rates decline, Europe’s “pay as you go” state pension systems, cornerstones of the welfare state that have always relied on people in work paying retirees’ pensions, are coming under increasingly heavy pressure.

With attempts at reform meeting stiff resistance in countries including France, Germany, Spain and Italy, a six-country YouGov poll reveals the extent of the public-opinion problem governments face.

Many people acknowledge state pension schemes are in trouble: majorities of between 61% and 52% in Italy, France, Germany and Spain said theirs was already unaffordable, as well as 45% of respondents in Poland. In the UK the figure was 32%.