马来西亚应该扩大社会养老金吗？：全球证据、设计问题和选择（英）

issues and optionsGlobal evidence, designissues and options 1818 H Street NWWashington DC 20433Telephone: 202-473-1000Internet: www.worldbank.org This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. Thefindings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily reflectthe views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments theyrepresent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or currency of the dataincluded in this work and does not assume responsibility for any errors, omissions, ordiscrepancies in the information, or liability with respect to the use of or failure to usethe information, methods, processes, or conclusions set forth. The boundaries, colors,denominations, links/footnotes and other information shown in this work do not implyany judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territoryor the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. The citation of works authored byothers does not mean the World Bank endorses the views expressed by those authors orthe content of their works. Nothing herein shall constitute or be construed or considered to be a limitation upon orwaiver of the privileges and immunities of The World Bank, all of which are specificallyreserved. Rights and Permissions The material in this work is subject to copyright. Because The World Bank encouragesdissemination of its knowledge, this work may be reproduced, in whole or in part, fornoncommercial purposes as long as full attribution to this work is given. Attribution: Please cite the work as follows: O’Keefe, Philip, and Rongen, Gerton (2025)“Should Malaysia expand its social pension? Global evidence, design issues and options”,World Bank, Washington, DC. Any queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed toWorld Bank Publications, The World Bank Group, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC20433, USA; fax: 202-522-2625; e-mail: pubrights@worldbank.org. Cover photo: © Munsya Rahman. Used with the permission of Munsya Rahman. Furtherpermission required for reuse. Credit for non-WB images: © Skyimages/Bigstock. Used with the permission of Skyimages/Bigstock. © Rawpixel.com/Bigstock. Used with the permission of Rawpixel.com/Bigstock.Further permission required for reuse. Design and layout: Good News Resources Sdn Bhd/www.gnrsb.com Acronyms Introduction The rapid expansion of social pensions in emergingeconomies over recent decades has been one of thedefining features of global social assistance policy.While non-contributory social pensions have beenaround for over 130 years, the 1990s and 2000s werethe decades that saw a major proliferation of suchprograms, with almost 100 countries now havinga social pension of some form.1 Like a growingnumberof its neighbors,Malaysia has a socialpension, but coverage remains very low and benefitlevels modest. At the same time, the coverage ofcontributory pension plans remains significantly lessthan complete, raising concerns regarding elderlywelfare as Malaysia ages rapidly over the comingdecades. The share of people of ages 65 and overwilldouble between 2020 and the mid-2040s,making Malaysia an aged society (i.e. 14% of thepopulation 65+ years of age), and the country willreach super-aged status (i.e. 20% of the population65+ years of age) by 2056.2Rapid societal ageingis a challenge which the Malaysian authorities haveacknowledged and have been addressing throughvariouspolicy intiatives,including the NationalAgeingBlueprint which outlines a multisectoralroadmap for the coming decades. coverage,adequacy,and spending,highlightingthediverse design trade-offs taken by differentcountries, including Malaysia. A key takeaway is thatthe umbrella term “social pension” encompasses adiverse set of programs where design differencesare as important as common features. Followingtheglobal benchmarking,there is a discussionof the global evidence on the impacts of socialpensions on a range of social indicators, includingpoverty,health and well-being,labor marketbehavior, and indirect effects on non-beneficiaryhouseholdmembers.It then discusses specificdesign issues that need to be taken into accountwhen considering expansion of social pensions. Thisis followed by analysis of the potential impacts oninequality and poverty in Malaysia of different socialpension reform scenarios, presenting evidence oftheir potential positive distributional impacts. Thepaper concludes with suggestions for reforms ofMalaysia’s social pension. Based on both Malaysian and global evidence, thepaper argues that there is a strong case for significantexpansion of the social pension for older Malaysians.At the same time, it argues that any expansion needsto be done with careful consideration of designfeatures to balance the potential positive welfareand equity impacts with fiscal, incentive, and otherfactors, in order to achieve a desirable balancing oftrade-offs.