Abstract

This paper examines the role played by the low-skilled immigrant labor force in countries aiming to reform their public pensions systems by postponing the pensionable age. With an overlapping-generations model in continuous time and a fully redistributive pension scheme, the arrival of immigrants affects the retirement benefits of the host population in a different manner according to whether they share or not pension benefits. Our results suggest that governments attempting to delay the legal retirement age should take into account the effect of immigration on the optimal retirement age of native individuals.