Migrants in the EU: Welfare in Old Age

Mahmood Messkoub, Leeds University

The first generation of post war migrants to Western Europe have joined the ranks of the European elderly. They have accumulated less assets and rights to public pension schemes. In some respect they share the problems of those of the European born population, like women, who had start work late or have interrupted work histories, or those on poorly paid jobs. This paper argues that changing the rules for these sections of EU population who rely on public pensions will help to reduce the risk of poverty in old age among some of the most underprivileged sections of EU elderly population. Among these policies are: delinking length of residency from pension rights or giving credit for the years that a person lived outside the country, financial support to those who are short of contribution years, allowing people to take their pension abroad without a penalty, and improving the rights and entitlement of surviving spouse