As the editors state in the preface to this book, ‘over the past decades, pension systems have come to the fore of policy-oriented academic research. The strains on public finances produced by population ageing coupled with an eroding tax base have boosted a debate that has increasingly moved to the fundamental issues of the roles of the state and the market in welfare provision, and of public and private responsibilities’ (p. xi).

The book is divided into two parts. The first part – with four chapters – deals with the politics of pension reform. All the chapters are centred on a common theme: the political forces that make pension reform viable in different national and institutional contexts. In the first chapter, David Natali and Martin Rhodes analyze recent pension reforms in four Bismarckian welfare states: France, Italy, Germany and Spain. The main argument presented is that negotiated bargains, or trade-offs, are central to understanding the success of pension reform. This bargaining process is underpinned by a complex process of political exchange that diminishes or neutralises opposition. As the authors show in their empirical examples, the outcomes of such trade-offs are far removed from neo-liberal retrenchment; by contrast, they often respond effectively to the claims of different actors for improvements in the distributive qualities of the pensions system.

The second chapter, by Martin Schludi, presents a comparative analysis of the pension reform in five different Bismarckian countries (Sweden, Italy, Germany, Austria and France). The main argument Schludi makes is that the political feasibility of pension reform critically depends on the government's ability to orchestrate a reform consensus, either with the parliamentary opposition or with trade unions. A different approach to explaining pension reform is presented on the next chapter by Einar Overbye. Adopting a political psychology approach and looking at global experience, Overbye argues that the scope for elected politicians to change pension policies is actually quite large. The basic reason for this is that most voters, most of the time, are rationally uninformed about the exact content of pension issues, which implies that voters can be persuaded to support a scheme if the pension reform is successfully framed and publically constructed as socially desirable. The last chapter in this part of the book, by Katharina Müller, focuses on a different focal point: the Central and Eastern European (CEE) and the Former Soviet Union (FSU) pension reform experience. While different approaches were selected, a common feature unites them all: a deliberate move from the universalist-redistributive heritage to strongly differentiated earnings-related benefits, with an emphasis on contributory financing. At the same time, however, the differences in level and scope of old-age protection in this region are widening.

The five chapters in second part of the book concentrate on the nature and outcomes of the pension reform experience in Europe. They address the nature of change in terms of models, principles, ideas and discourses, as well as in terms of their effects on poverty, income distribution and gender inequality.

The first chapter, by Camila Arza, studies the distributional principles of pension reforms in four European countries (Italy, Sweden, Poland and the UK). It argues that pension reform in Europe has set out a pathway towards ‘individualized’ systems of old age protection that will reproduce income and labour inequalities upon retirement. The following chapter, by Martin Rein and Karen Anderson, examines the process of reframing pension policy in three countries (the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden). The uniqueness of these three countries is that they started their pension reform at a very similar starting point: a universal, flat-rate, solidarity-based, benefit system. The comparison of these three countries shows that each adopted a different form of pension reform. However, surprisingly, the economic outcomes were quite similar, leading to the conclusion that there are multiple models to reach similar social policy goals of stability and redistribution. The next chapter, by Robin Blackburn, shifts the focus to the Anglo-American pension regime. It overviews and analyzes existing data regarding the outcomes and performances of these regimes. In general, it finds that the Anglo-Saxon commercial pension fund regime fails on many counts and it questions whether other countries should adopt a similar policy path.

The last two chapters examine pensions and pensions reform from unique critical social perspectives. The first, by Patricia Frericks and Robert Maier, examines the effects of norms and pension reform policies from a gender perspective. More specifically, they look into specific policies such as employment, tax incentives, care credits, parental leave, that eventually all relate to pension schemes and benefit levels. The analysis concludes that, while recent policies attempted to address gender inequalities, many current policies still do not adequately address gender pension gaps and, in some cases, they even increase it. The final chapter, by Martin Kohli, touches upon concepts and attitudes toward generational equity and how these concepts are reflected in public attitudes towards pensions and redistribution of income in old age.

Overall, the book tackles key issues of recent welfare reform with new perspectives and on the basis of new empirical evidence. The overall picture is complex: empirical evidence from difference welfare systems suggests that there is convergence with respect to the original regime classifications and divergence with respect to the new differentiations. In other words, pension systems are moving farther and farther away from the ideal types embodied in regime classifications, and the new reality that emerges is that of countries that have become ‘hybrids’. Recent pension reforms are found to be less dependent on rigid past welfare structures and more on pragmatics and resources, incorporating features from competing basic designs. The findings that are presented in the book also emphasise the complexity of the outcome of any pension reform. Evidence shows that pension reforms have differential impacts on different social groups. Some reforms are likely to increase the future well being of specific groups but at the risk of decreasing that of others. It is important to systematically examine outcomes of pension reform from gender and cohort perspectives and to project the expected outcomes against the likely evolution of life course patterns of employment and family structures.

Perhaps the most important contribution of the book is its focus on fairness and justice and with public discourse regarding pension reform. As discussed in the book, there is no clear-cut generational divide in people's attitudes and support for the welfare state and for its pension system. Thus, the overall all message of the book, as argued by its editors, is of much importance: ‘many of the received ideas need to be replaced by a richer and better grounded account of how institutions cluster, change, and influence outcomes.’ (p. 18).