The third and fourth sections are analyses of experiences abroad and in Saskatchewan, and include an assessment of the political and policy obstacles to the intro- duction of similar programs in Canada. [...] The second component of the Canadian pension system is the mandatory earnings-related pension plan, the CPP/QPP.4 Following the 1997 reform, the contribution rate for both the CPP and the QPP currently (in 2010) stands at 9.9 percent of all earnings between $3,500 and $47,200. [...] This can be attributed to the generosity of the pension income floor, consisting of the OAS/GIS (Osberg 2001), and maturation of the CPP/QPP program (Myles 2000). [...] This outcome is partly attributable to the steady rise in the number of women in the workforce; improved access to pension plans for part-timers; and employment growth in those sectors of the economy with easy access to a pension plan and where women have a strong presence, such as education and health care (Schembari 2006). [...] The RRSP was created in 1957 (as the registered retirement annuity) to compensate for the lack of employer-sponsored pension plan coverage for a large segment of the workforce.