Abstract:
Sri Lanka is heading toward an ageing society, and existing pension
programmes do not provide adequate income and coverage for the elderly
community, and old-age poverty is significant. According to the
International Labour Organization, the Universal Non-Contributory Basic
Pension (UNCBP) would be the answer. The study attempted to find the
significant obstacles to implementing UNCBP in Sri Lanka. A quantitative
method was employed to identify significant obstacles out of nine obstacles
from previous literature by following the paired sample t-test of Ouda's
method using the data from a questionnaire survey of 86 relevant
professionals selected by the purposive sampling method. Compared to the
other seven obstacles, the study identified that the instability of policies and
lack of public understanding of pension systems have a more significant
impact. To increase the accuracy and find any other important components,
a broad-scaled and multi-dimensional study is required. This study was the
initial effort to pinpoint the challenges to implementing UNCBP in Sri Lanka
and maybe elsewhere. Thus, it would provide a fresh perspective on the
study of pensions in ageing countries. Additionally, it advances the
understanding and opinions of academics and officials about pension
reform to lessen old-age poverty
