Research: average life expectancy misleads pension policy

The University of Andorra opens its new research outreach series "Píndoles de recerca" with a presentation by Pere López Agràs, a doctoral candidate at the University of Barcelona and former minister of finance and leader of the Social Democratic Party. López will present research that questions the use of national average life expectancy as a neutral parameter for designing public pension policies.

López’s doctoral work—variously titled in stages as Is life expectancy still an equitable parameter for shaping Pension Policies?, Impacts of the longevity gaps by income on pensions and healthcare (Spain, UK, Denmark), and Rethinking Pension Equity: The Challenge of Longevity Gaps by Income—analyses how persistent differences in life expectancy by income or socioeconomic status affect the equity of pension systems. Using individual-level microdata on longevity, income trajectories, contributions and benefits, his preliminary results show that national averages conceal substantial divergences: lower-income groups tend to have significantly shorter life expectancies than higher-income groups, which alters who benefits from current pension arrangements.

The research finds that policies that link retirement age or benefits to average life expectancy can disproportionately disadvantage lower-income people, who are less likely to live long enough to receive commensurate pension benefits. López argues this dynamic calls into question the fairness of using a single average life-expectancy parameter when setting retirement policy.

López presented part of this work at the World Economic History Congress 2025 in Lund, Sweden, where he received the Best Poster award for research covering the second phase of his project. He expects to complete the remaining phases of his thesis around 2027 and present the final results at a future international conference.

The University of Andorra event will take place at 10:30 in the university auditorium (6th floor) and is open to the public. The talk is scheduled to last about half an hour and will be delivered in Catalan.