This article examines the legal, social, and economic impacts of Brazil’s labor reform (Law No. 13,467/2017) and pension reform (Constitutional Amendment No. 103/2019), within the broader context of structural changes implemented between 2017 and 2025. It focuses on core legislative innovations, such as the predominance of collective bargaining over statutory law and the imposition of a minimum retirement age, assessing their implications for the effectiveness of fundamental social rights, union performance, and the financial sustainability of the social security system. The research adopts a qualitative approach, grounded in bibliographic review, legal analysis, and empirical data from official sources. The study concludes that the reforms shifted the axis of social protection toward economic rationality, weakening historic labor guarantees. It highlights the urgency of compensatory policies, reinforcement of collective bargaining, and measures for inclusive pension coverage as strategies to restore balance to the social protection framework.

Assessing the effectiveness of recent pension reforms: The French experiment

ABSTRACT Technocratic governments in Italy, often portrayed as caretaker cabinets, have in fact played a pivotal role in reshaping the state. This article systematically analyses the reforms enacted by four technocratic cabinets – those of Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Lamberto Dini, Mario Monti, and Mario Draghi – between 1993 and 2022. Combining a longitudinal design with in-depth policy analysis, it examines administrative and welfare reforms across three dimensions: domain, scope, and policy orientation. The findings challenge the conventional view of technocracy as an exceptional response to crisis, showing instead that these executives have contributed to recurring patterns of state restructuring. While neoliberal and managerial orientations prevail across all cases, important variations in the scope of reform and in contextual conditions emerge. The analysis avoids deterministic interpretations by situating technocratic agency within the interplay between structural constraints and strategic intervention. Critical junctures – marked by uncertainty and external pressure – are shown to provide opportunities for technocratic actors to implement high-impact reforms with lasting implications. The article concludes that technocracy has become a normalized mode of policy intervention in Italy, particularly effective for advancing politically costly reforms under crisis conditions. These findings have broader implications for understanding the evolution of democratic governance.

This study examined the perception of workers towards the 2014 PRA. These were with a view to provide information on the satisfaction and opinion of workers towards 2014 PRA in Osun State. To facilitate the study, primary and secondary sources of data collection were adopted with qualitative content analysis technique for presentation of findings. “The study adopted System theory”. The study revealed there were gaps and loopholes in the PRA 2014 and its implementation which negatively altered the noble objectives of the reforms, thereby failed the yearning and expectations of workers and retirees respectively. The study concluded that satisfaction of workers toward 2014 Pension Reform Act in Osun State, Nigeria is negative, unhelpful and unsatisfactory. The study, therefore, suggested the need for further review and amendment of the provisions in the PRA, 2014 by the National Assembly (After 10 years of enactment) to take care of the identified loopholes and gaps in the Act. The study suggested the need for a sincere political will by the three tiers of government in Nigeria, and holistic synergy among the stakeholders to nurture the scheme to an enviable world Standard. The study further called for a strict compliance in implementation of the provisions of the Act (as amended)

Profiling tumour-infiltrating immune cells in a large paediatric medulloblastoma cohort: a retrospective analysis

Pension security is a crucial component of social protection for government employees, particularly teachers, who heavily rely on post-retirement benefits for financial stability. Over the years, India shifted from the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) to the market-linked National Pension System (NPS), causing concern among teachers due to reduced financial certainty. In 2024, the Government introduced the Uni-fied Pension Scheme (UPS) to bridge the gap between OPS and NPS by providing a more assured pension structure. This research paper examines teachers’ preferences for OPS, NPS, and UPS in the state of Jharkhand, analysing awareness levels, perceived benefits, satis-faction levels, and factors influencing scheme preference. The study reveals that OPS remains the most preferred due to its guaranteed benefits, while NPS remains the least preferred. UPS, being new, shows moderate acceptance but faces awareness gaps. The findings are expected to support policymakers in designing more effective pension reforms for the teaching community. Keywords: OPS, NPS, Unified Pension Scheme, Teachers, Social Security, Pension Reform, Jharkhand.

ABSTRACT Evidence suggests that welfare reforms were driven by negative stereotypes about welfare recipients but little research examines how low-income parents evaluate these stereotypes. Drawing on data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 6,559), we find that parents who had received welfare were less likely than non-recipients to endorse negative welfare stereotypes. Among recipients, fathers were consistently more likely than mothers to endorse negative welfare stereotypes. White mothers were more likely than Black mothers to agree that welfare inhibits marriage and family formation. The results highlight how beliefs about welfare are shaped by racialized and gendered controlling images.

Abstract Following European pension reforms, the responsibility for old-age provision has increasingly shifted from the state to the individual. This study examines how behavioral norms and perceptions of parents’ or grandparents’ financial situation influence participation in the voluntary second pillar. Using survey data from two Italian provinces with high coverage of supplementary pension funds, the analysis shows that norms transmitted through family and friends strongly predict participation, whereas workplace norms matter only for women. Perceived financial hardship of older relatives increases both awareness of retirement planning and the likelihood of enrollment, underscoring the role of the social environment.

ABSTRACT Late twentieth-century American work-based welfare policies obscure structural causes of maternal poverty and force mothers to rely on private solutions to mitigate the effects of systemic inequity. In-depth sociological research reveals that social support diminishes and expectations for low-cost care work increase under work-based welfare policies. Expanding on this relationship, I present a socio-historical study of Governor Sam Brownback’s ‘Kansas experiment’ from 2011 to 2017, a conservative prototype for welfare reform designed to resurrect Reagan-era welfare cuts. While existing analyses of Brownback’s administration focus on the economic impact of his tax policies, my research illuminates the unexamined social policy outcomes for low-income mothers. This in-depth discourse-historical analysis presents critical parallels between language targeting low-income mothers during this shift and witchcraft accusations that condemned women to burn at the stake in sixteenth and seventeenth century Western Europe, as explored by Silvia Federici. I draw on the theory of affective economies to argue that not only are the contemporary welfare reforms a de facto witch hunt but that the accumulative effect of the interpretive repertoire of the witch and welfare recipient ensure that the social reproductive labour of women at all socio-economic levels are subject to patriarchal state control.

ABSTRACT Policy implementation at the local level is often influenced by the interplay between institutional frameworks and the discretionary power of street‐level bureaucrats. This study examines how local welfare agencies in two Italian regions have reacted to the introduction of the Reddito di Cittadinanza (RdC), the Italian minimum income scheme. Through qualitative research, including interviews with social workers and their managers, this study explores how local actors mediate national policies and navigate structural constraints in a rapidly changing context, adapting the measure and at the same time reorganising their working contexts. The findings show that the implementation of the RdC has led to significant organisational adaptations, including the emergence of informal coordination mechanisms and new forms of professional discretion. Whilst the policy was designed to standardise welfare practises, its practical application varies across local contexts, highlighting the tensions between national mandates and local agency. The findings underscore the pivotal role of street‐level bureaucrats in shaping policy implementation, often serving as conduits for interpreting and adapting measures to align with local needs. This research contributes to the extant literature on policy implementation by demonstrating the value of an organisational perspective in understanding welfare policy processes, transcending the conventional divide between top‐down and bottom‐up approaches. The study's findings imply that a sustained investment in local capacities is important to ensure the efficacy of policy measures. Future welfare reforms could benefit from the insights of this case study by integrating local agency and professional expertise into social policy design.

Abstract This paper analyses the social and economic impact of the three-pillar reform of the pension system in Albania, assessing its contribution to fiscal sustainability and the financial well-being of older persons. The study draws on national and international data (INSTAT, World Bank, IMF, ISSH) for the period 2015–2024 and combines empirical analysis of economic indicators with a review of public policies. The results show that the 2015 reform increased contributory coverage by about 3.5%, stabilized pension spending at 8.7% of GDP and gradually reduced poverty among those aged 65+ from 23.4% to 19.6%. However, structural challenges such as informality, low replacement ratio and lack of voluntary private funds remain prominent. The study concludes that Albania has advanced towards a more sustainable and equitable system, but additional reforms are required to strengthen the second and third pillars, expand formal participation, and guarantee an adequate level of income in old age.

This study aims to reveal public sentiment toward China’s pension policies from January 2018 to August 2023, leveraging over 260,000 Weibo posts to identify key themes and demographic differences. Advanced Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques, including sentiment analysis and latent Dirichlet allocation, are employed to explore six topics, such as societal impact and policy integrity, while uncovering demographic and regional variations. The findings reveal that policy changes significantly influence public sentiment, with greater negativity observed around institutional and structural aspects of the policies. These results underscore the need for public education on pension reforms and fraud prevention, providing actionable insights for policymakers in an aging society. The study contributes to behavioural finance theory by illustrating how heuristics like availability bias and loss aversion shape public reactions to pension reforms. However, social media data may not fully represent less active groups like older adults, highlighting the need for broader research methods.

Abstract To what extent should workers in physically demanding jobs be given the possibility of earlier retirement? This is one of the many pressing pension reform issues that ageing societies face. This article examines the extent to which such special treatment is supported by the general public. We uniquely combine a representative survey (2,136 respondents) with a vignette study to explore what respondents in the Netherlands consider a fair public pension age for 29 jobs that differ by level of physical demand. We also examine whether these pension ages are associated with other attributes that are important in an ageing society, such as the presence of chronic health conditions and informal care-giving responsibilities – such attributes may affect support for the special provisions for workers in physically demanding jobs – and control for stereotypical views about older workers. The findings reveal notable differences in public pension ages, indicating that workers in highly physically demanding jobs should be given the opportunity to retire earlier and those working in physically ‘light’ jobs should work slightly beyond the standard public pension age. We compare these differences to existing special retirement programmes for physically demanding or arduous jobs. Interestingly, non-work factors – namely, chronic health conditions and care-giving responsibilities – weigh more heavily in deciding a fair or reasonable public pension age. This suggests that organizations and policy makers facing an ageing society will have to deal with a broader set of problems than can be solved by offering early retirement programmes for specific jobs.

Objective: To highlight the impacts of the 2019 Pension Reform and its effects on the health of the Economically Active Population in Brazil. Theoretical Framework: The analysis is based on social security legislation, specifically Constitutional Amendment n. 103/2019, and on studies about population aging, worker's health, and the socioeconomic impacts of pension reforms in Brazil. Method: A quantitative, retrospective study was conducted, covering the period from 2020 to 2024. Data were collected from secondary sources, such as the SmartLab Platform of the Public Ministry of Labor, the Statistical Yearbook of Social Security, and the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Results and Discussion: The results indicate that the increased exposure time to harmful agents and unhealthy environments has raised occupational illness. There has been a growth in the demand for Permanent Disability Retirement and a general increase in the demand for Disability Benefits, suggesting that the reform may overload the social security system with early retirements, contrary to the objective of actuarial balance. Research Implications: The research warns of the unforeseen consequences of the Reform of the 2019, such as increased costs for the health and social security systems due to the premature illness of the Economically Active Population. Originality/Value: The study provides a critical and updated analysis of the effects of the 2019 Pension Reform, contributing quantitative evidence on the direct impact on workers' health and the sustainability of the social security system itself, a topic of high social and economic relevance for Brazil.

Scholars of the welfare state have long argued that, in liberal democracies, welfare state expansion depends on successful coalitions in its favour. Under what circumstances do these coalitions form? Party systems, economic interest, and political mobilisation have all been thought to influence the emergence of coalitions for welfare state expansion. In this article, I argue that law plays a critical role in facilitating the last of these factors. Drawing on a growing body of literature that sees law as constitutive of, rather than merely reflective of, social relations, I demonstrate that available legal forms meaningfully inform opportunities for welfare coalitions. In particular, I examine how debates over what a trade union is-a voluntary association of individuals, or a corporate body deserving of a state statute-shaped coalitions for welfare reform in the US and the UK at the turn of the twentieth century.

Against the backdrop of Sino-U.S. economic game, social inequality has become increasingly prominent, and the impact of welfare policies on economic efficiency in the two countries shows significant differences. Employing data like the Gini coefficient and Kuznets curve, this paper analyzes the transformation of welfare policies from "negative welfare" to "growth driver" in China and the United States. It is found that welfare policies affect economic efficiency through channels such as human capital investment, income distribution adjustment, and consumption stimulation; China and the United States show different characteristics in the transformation of welfare policies. China's "moderate universal benefit" model and the United States' "market- oriented" / "work-oriented" model provide two-way references for policy optimization. The theoretical significance of this study lies in that by introducing a dynamic comparative perspective of welfare policy transformation, it enriches the academic framework of the interactive relationship between economic growth and social equity. In practice, it provides actionable insights for developing countries represented by China to balance the efficiency and fairness of welfare reforms and helps to coordinate global welfare policies under the economic dynamics of China and the United States.

The National Pension Scheme (NPS) and the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) in India are thoroughly examined in this report, along with their respective fiscal sustainability and wider effects on economic growth. The study explores the key design distinctions between these two pension models—NPS, a defined-contribution, market-linked system, and OPS, a defined-benefit, unfunded system—and looks at the significant ramifications of these differences. A crucial conflict between immediate political concerns and long-term economic prudence is highlighted by the ongoing discussion, especially the decision by a number of Indian states to switch back to OPS. According to key findings, OPS presents an unsustainable fiscal burden by its very nature. Government capital expenditure is severely constrained by this sizeable liability, which has the crowding-out effect of impeding long-term economic growth. On the other hand, NPS actively supports infrastructure development and capital market deepening, which promotes economic growth, by mobilizing long-term savings and directing them into a variety of market instruments. An ongoing policy iteration to strike a balance between guaranteed benefits and fiscal viability is reflected in the creation of the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS). The analysis comes to the conclusion that a strong commitment to pension reforms that give priority to funded, sustainable models is necessary to uphold fiscal restraint and promote strong economic growth. Avoiding a mass switch back to OPS, bolstering state coffers, expanding the appeal and reach of NPS, and pursuing ongoing actuarial evaluations within a comprehensive social security framework are the main policy recommendations. Keywords: National Pension Scheme, Old Pension Scheme, Fiscal Sustainability, Economic Growth, Financial burden, GDP, etc.

Abstract It is well established that unemployment is detrimental to health and wellbeing. However, less is known about how the impact varies across welfare state contexts and expenditures. Cross-country comparative analysis could indicate important differences to inform welfare state policy reforms. The Comparative Panel File (CPF) was used to combine household panel survey data from seven countries (UK, US, Germany, Australia, South Korea, Switzerland, and Russia). The analysis covers 2001 to 2019 using a sample of the working-age population (age 25 to 64). Country-specific fixed effects models were estimated separately to investigate the impact of transitions between employment states on wellbeing years (WELLBYs) for all countries, and quality adjusted life years (QALYs) for three countries with available data. Additionally, a pooled country analysis investigates the potentially modifying effects of specific welfare state expenditures on wellbeing. Transitions from employment to unemployment negatively impacted health and wellbeing in all countries and for both genders, as expected. However, substantial between-country variation was observed. For example, the negative impact of transitions into unemployment for males in the UK was more than double the equivalent estimate for Australian. Gender differences in estimates were also less pronounced in Australia compared to the UK. Government spending on passive labour market policies (e.g. unemployment benefits) were estimated to be beneficial to health across the working-age population, whether or not individuals were affected by an employment state transition. The estimated monetary value of addressing wellbeing impact of unemployment was substantially larger than the equivalent figure for health impacts. Welfare state policies influence the negative impact of unemployment on health and wellbeing. Specific welfare state expenditures can be altered to modify these impacts and reduce the substantial costs of unemployment.

Abstract Despite rising life expectancy and pressure to reform pension systems, the average working time in old age is decreasing. Our analysis of panel data from the German Ageing Survey (DEAS) shows that subjective age – which indicates how old a person feels – has a significant influence on how time is spent during working life. Those who feel subjectively younger reduce their working hours in favour of leisure time, regardless of income or health. Subjective age thus functions as a behaviourally relevant signal beyond chronological age and helps explain why people retire from working life earlier despite better health. The results suggest that social ageing processes should be addressed with greater flexibility in work arrangements.

Background and rationaleGrounded in a global movement and solid evidence, the WHO European Well-being Economy Initiative is championing well-being economies that place health as an essential driver and beneficiary. It works with governments, health authorities, academia, and cross-sector partners to reshape economic, fiscal, and development policies towards achieving population and planetary well-being, and more inclusive, cohesive, and prosperous societies. The WHO Resolution on the Economics of health for all is a key lever providing mandate for action and investment in what matters most to people, communities, and the planet. A momentum is building to accelerate transformation, innovation and cooperation implementing international and national commitments into policies, politics, and practice.Aim, objectives and added valueThe round table aims to provide examples and insights into good practices of policies and investments that improve population health and well-being, enable early prevention, and reduce health inequalities. It includes deep dives into the approaches taken on national and sub-national levels in Finland, Iceland, Wales and Scotland (United Kingdom), and Utrecht Region. These countries/ regions are recognized by the WHO as champions of employing well-being economies to promote and improve health, sustainability and equity outcomes in Europe, providing inspiration for others and collaborating to advance this agenda forward. The added value is the focus on solutions, actionable strategies and concrete initiatives for investing in prevention, applying well-being economy principles and values into policies across sectors, metrics, and budgets. It will explore enablers, drivers, constraints, politics, tactics, and lessons learnt for successful decision-making, governance and financing at the cross-section of population health, social, economic and environmental outcomes towards sustainability, resilience and prosperity. Specific examples include Wales’ forward-looking legislation, policies and economics accelerating prevention and embedding social value; Finland's major social and welfare reforms to improve mental health and well-being, as well as looking at the commercial determinants of health; Iceland's success with children's well-being; Scotland's community wealth building; and Utrecht's pioneering neighbourhood project, also a WHO Healthy Cities flagship.FormatThe panel will start with a brief introduction to the well-being economy capitals, principles, and values; followed by deep dives into best practices from the leading nations/ regions. It will be co-chaired by EUPHA Section on Public Health Policy and Politics and the WHO Venice Office. A discussion allowing questions from the audience will focus on lessons learnt and practical solutions that can be scaled up or replicated across countries, sectors, and settings to help accelerate well-being economies with public health co-benefits across Europe and globally.Key messages• Embedding prevention outcomes into policies and investments across sectors drives prosperous and fair societies, sustainability and resilient economies.• Good public health practices and Value-Based innovations provide solutions to accelerate progress towards wellbeing economies.Speakers/PanellistsHeikki HiilamoTHL, Helsinki, FinlandMichiel DijkmanEconomic Board Utrecht, Utrecht, NetherlandsMariana DyakovaPublic Health Wales / University of Warwick, Exeter, UK