Disability is a complex, evolving andmultidimensional concept. According to the World Disabilityreport (2011), disability will be an even greater concern asits prevalence is on the rise due to Ageing Populations aswell as the Global increase in chronic health conditionssuch as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and mentalhealth disorders. In this paper, the authors look at thebasic design features and fiscal costs of the sick pay, sickleave and disability pensions program in each of the MemberStates of the European Union. As will be seen, it isdifficult to draw any policy conclusions or find much in theway of trends in the data. Nevertheless, the authorshighlight the heterogeneity in practices across variouscountries through our analysis, suggest areas for additionalanalysis or research, and provide suggestions forstrengthening disability pension systems in the future. Theauthors also include case studies for two countries (TheNetherlands and Poland) to illustrate the characteristics ofrecent reforms and lessons learned. For most purposes, inthis paper, disability benefits refer to a combination ofsick pay, sick leave and disability pensions payable fromsocial insurance programs. This paper is arranged asfollows: (ii) Section II of this report discusses thesocial, financial, and demographic arguments for countriesto focus increased attention now on the design,administration and financing of their sick pay, sick leaveand disability pension programs; (iii) Section III discussesthe basic terminology and issues in disability pensions; and(iv) Section IV reviews the current practices of the EUcountries in the areas of disability covered by the report.
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