The Trend of Changes in the Support Ratio in Iranian Pension Funds

A study of the situation of Iranian pension funds shows that these funds have faced significant financial challenges in the last two decades and have reached a state of instability in the pension system. This raises serious questions about the ability of funds to meet their obligations for the benefit of beneficiaries. One of the tools for measuring the balance of resources and expenditures and the stability of pension funds is the support ratio. The purpose of this study is to examine this ratio in pension funds with an emphasis on social security and its developments over the past 50 years.

The present study is a descriptive-analytical research through secondary analysis of organizational registration data. The data used were obtained from statistical and information sources of pension funds and the Statistics and Information Office of the Ministry of Labor Cooperation and Social Welfare.

State Pension Funds, Steel, Central Bank, Radio and Television, National Copper and Ports and Shipping have a support ratio below one. By classifying this ratio with the following group of 2 employees retired, to this list can be added banks, Homa Airlines, Central Insurance and Oil. Also, the support ratio in the Social Security Fund has been decreasing in recent years, so that in the last ten years it has decreased from 6.81 in 2010 to 4.5 in 2019.

The crisis in pension funds is so important that any neglect of it can create a national challenge in the country. The results obtained in this study show that the support ratio in pension funds has a decreasing trend and the continuation of this trend poses major risks to the Iranian economy.