Italy's pension system confronts AI-driven financing challenge

INPS president Gabriele Fava and academic Michel Martone say Italy's traditional pension model, financed largely by workers' contributions, will be strained as artificial intelligence replaces jobs and raises productivity without adding employment. They argue that low birth rates, longer lifespans and rapid technological change call for a new European‑wide welfare framework, possibly a G7‑level agreement, to keep pensions sustainable.

Fava stresses that young workers should begin planning their retirement from their first contract and that both collective and individual complementary pension schemes are needed, likening the latter to classic savings books. He also points to the 34 % gender gap in pension payouts and proposes measures such as expanded childcare and remote‑work options to mitigate it.