The Government-Subsidized Supplementary Retirement Savings Scheme: Determinants of Participation Rate and Contribution Size
Abstract
The article identifies characteristics of Czech individuals, which influence participation rate and contribution size in the government-subsidized supplementary retirement savings scheme, the 3rd pillar of the pension system. Using the representative sample of individuals, I show that men are by 8 percentage points more likely to participate in the 3rd pillar than women, but their average contributions are of similar size.
Higher participation rates as well as contributions exhibit employees with higher incomes, older people and those working longer hours. More than a third (36%) of participants contributed 500 Czech crowns monthly to the 3rd pillar, which was identical with a ceiling, valid until the end of 2012, for a government subsidy of 0.3 crowns per each crown contributed.
These results suggest that a large share of population has a larger propensity for long-term saving than they actually save.