Specific features of self-provision in Hungary

Unfunded and mandatory funded pillars of the Hungarian pension system have been operating simultaneously since 1998. This reform, seen as paradigmatic, has undergone several changes in recent years, designed essentially to alter the pension parameters. Discourse on pension reform has become general again throughout the world. The pension debates in Hungary have focused less on the rising proportion of the elderly than on low employment and eligibility. Contributions to the debate these days are not about the question of an unfunded versus a funded system. The emphasis has repeatedly been on self-provision. The study analyses by means of survey data the extent of the various forms of self-provision. The survey shows that respondents have not typically made decisions of their own on the matter, for which they have limited (and sometimes false) information about the pension system and their life expectancy as pensioners. According to the authors, it is impermissibly optimistic to place excessive emphasis on people's ability to provide for themselves.