Abstract
<p>Public pension provision – where it exists – is in a state of flux around the world. However, the way challenges such as demographic change are dealt with differs greatly from country to country, as does the social reality. This paper compares the German statutory pension insurance with the public pension insurance systems of the emerging countries of Brazil and China. Like Germany, these systems are based on the social insurance approach. The state structures are examined, the legal foundations of the pension insurance systems are explained, the historical background is considered and, on this basis, the basic structures of the systems are worked out. The work concludes with a comparative legal analysis against the background of current challenges, focusing on the legal scope for reform.</p>