Abstract

The notional defined contribution pension system, introduced in Italy with the 1995 reform, has very little redistributive features. Hence, it may raise concerns about the adequacy of pensions for categories of low-income workers. This paper focuses on the estimation of the income profiles and pension benefits earned by a specific group of flexible workers, the so-called "parasubordinati". Our analysis shows that these workers are indeed at risk of not having enough resources to finance their retirement. This is due to the combination of two factors: low labour income during their active life coupled with payroll taxes lowered with respect to private employees. Moreover, we show that an increase of the payroll tax for the "parasubordinati" to the level of the employees, "ceteris paribus", does not solve the problem.