Transforming employer responsibilities: the privatisation of occupational pensions

Abstract

This article examines the role of employers in providing retirement pensions in three countries that are often characterised as “liberal/Anglo” welfare regimes; the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. It will be suggested that despite some similarities, with a drift away from public welfare rights and industrial/collective rights occurring in all three, there are some differences in how this has been managed. It is suggested that welfare retrenchment and a retreat from collective rights, in both the public and industrial/occupational arenas, is not primarily about public expenditures but rather about shifting the balance of individual, state and employer rights and responsibilities.