With or without Berlusconi, the citizens of Italy still face Austerity policy at work: cuts in the social welfare, childcare, education, research, pensions, and the mutilation of one of the best health care systems in the world.
Research by pension company Phoenix Group found that 45% of pension savers have been approached to see if they wanted to review their pension or release some of it as cash.
One important branch of research in pension systems is the problem of global ageing and the sustainability of public pension systems, referred to hereafter as PPS.
Women are particularly hard-hit, retiring on 47% less on average than men, according to research from pension firm LV=.
Tom McPhail, head of pensions research at leading pensions company Hargreaves Lansdown, said the government had tried to force through the changes at "reckless" speed in what seemed a clear attempt to make people feel richer before election day.
It will make up more than a third of the total income of those retiring in 2015, according to research from pensions firm Prudential.
Research by pensions provider Old Mutual found that while 84% of 30- to 45-year-old employees were contributing to a pension scheme, among the self-employed just half were paying towards their retirement.
Is that a good idea and what might be the impact on my retirement?" Tom McPhail, head of pensions research at Hargreaves Lansdown, says: "Accessing the pension freedoms in a few years' time might be appealing but also comes with a high cost.
Recent research on the Pension Gender Gap by the Association of British Insurers found that more than a third of women aren't in a pension scheme compared with only 25% of men, while less than one in 10 receive an employer contribution of more than 5% of their wages compared with 15% of men.
Her research interests include pension economics, health economics and the fiscal impacts of ageing.
The welfare minister, Elsa Fornero, ran a highly regarded pension research institute.
