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Intergenerational Policy Evaluation

Intergenerational Policy Evaluation

In this project we evaluate several policies from an intergenerational fairness point of view. A policy is fair to all generations if: it allows people of all ages to meet their needs; meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. On the other hand, a policy is considered unfair if it does not satisfy at least one of the following conditions:
• Disadvantage people at any specific stage of their life;
• Disadvantage any generation, current or future;
• Strengths the transmission of inequality through generations;
• Restricts the choices of future generations;
• Moves society away from its vision for the future.

We depart from the methodology developed by SOIF & Gulbenkian and propose changes to make it more quantitative and objective. The methodology includes five flexible stages:

1 Diagnostic: Captures key information about the policy, evaluates its fairness, and builds a timeline of short, medium and long-term effects.
2 Impact: Explores chains of intended and unintended impacts on generations over time, using available quantitative data.
3 Scenarios: Tests the baseline evaluation against alternative scenarios.
4 Process: Examines how the policy was designed and enacted, namely if intergenerational issues were considered.
5 Conclusions: Summarises the findings and recommendations.

  • Restoring Teachers’ Total Service Time

    The 2011 State Budget approved the freezing of public administration careers, which continued until January 1, 2018. As a result, teachers’ careers were frozen for six years, six months and 23 days. Restoring this service time, such that it counts for their career and wages, has been a controversial issue in recent years.

  • More Housing

    Housing is a problem of intergenerational justice. On one hand, the younger generations who still do not own a property are adversely impacted by soaring house prices. On the other hand, home owners, who usually belong to the older generations, stand to benefit from rising house prices, as they can sell them at a higher price or increase rents.

  • Non-Adjustment of the Pensions According to Law 53-B/2006

    In September of 2022 the Portuguese government announced that in January of 2023 the pension adjustment formula, as described in Law 53-B/2006, would not be applied. According to the government, the application of the formula would mean that “the first negative balances of the welfare system would be anticipated to the late 2030s and [it was estimated] that the social security fund would be depleted by the first half of the 2040s.”1 In return, the government published a law that, among other measures, created an exceptional complement to retirees, corresponding to half of their October 2022 pension

  • Sustainable Employment Commitment

    The Sustainable Employment Commitment (CES) is a measure that is included in the Resolution and Resilience Program. It consists of an exceptional and transitional measure in which the government, through the Institute of Employment and Professional Training (IEFP), provides financial support to employers that hire unemployed workers (up to 30,000).