Total-employed longevity gap, pension fairness and public finance: Evidence from one of the oldest regions in EU

This work analyses the mortality differential between the total and the employed population for the Italian region of Liguria in 2015–2019. Values for life expectancy at ages [65, 74) are used to quantify the transfer mechanism implicitly triggered when, in the case of persistent longevity heterogeneity, a country-wide longevity factor is adopted in calculating pension annuities. Results confirm that a lower mortality force characterises the employed population of Liguria compared to the total population. In terms of implicit tax/subsidy rates, Liguria total population is almost unaffected, being taxed by an average of 0.05% of the fair value for pension. Instead, Liguria employed population is subsidised by 6.24%. Longevity heterogeneity directly impacts on public finances, if not compensated within the same cohort by socio-economic groups living shorter. Some corrective policies are discussed.