Lithuania

Abstract

Lithuania underwent radical changes in economic and social systems at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century. The country has a declining and ageing population. The dependency ratio will increase to 44.9%, public pension expenditure in Lithuania will reach 8.6% of GDP in 2050, and both values are lower than the corresponding values for the EU-25 average. To address such challenges, the country introduced policy measures and in 2018 a new social model came into force. The chapter discusses pension system reforms, pension policy, employment and health policy and provides a selective review of existing research on these topics. Research on extended working life is developing in Lithuania. It provides evidencebased arguments for influencing social policy for olderworkers. However, the gender and health implications of extendingworking life in Lithuania are not very favourable and do not fully support peoples’ rights for sustainable wellbeing in late work and after retirement.