Innovating With Pensions for the Informal Sector: Lessons from Solomon Islands

Saving for retirement usually is not one of the first priorities people have. Most people contribute monthly to a plan linked to the company they work for. This is however generally not the case in developing countries, where many people work in the informal sector. Pacific Island Countries are now exploring how to tap into this large pool of workers in the informal economy by encouraging small voluntary contributions through innovative micropension products. From May 2017 to February 2018, the Solomon Islands National Provident Fund (SINPF) and BluePrint Pension Services (BPPS), with support from the Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP) tested exactly such a product. A long-term retirement savings product for the informal sector.

In this publication, PFIP shares the main lessons learned during this pilot, as well as interventions and characteristics that contributed to the success of youSave and its eventual scale-up.