Documents early retirement 231 results

"We present quasi-experimental evidence on the employment effects of an unprecedented large increase in the early retirement age (ERA). Raising the ERA has the potential to extend contribution periods and to reduce the number of pension beneficiaries at the same time, if employment exits are successfully delayed. However, workers may not be able to work longer or may choose other social support programs as exit routes from employment. We study the effects of the ERA increase on employment and potential program substitution in a regression-discontinuity framework. Germany abolished an important early retirement program for women born after 1951, effectively raising the ERA for women by three years. We analyze the effects of this huge increase on employment, unemployment, disability pensions, and inactivity rates. Our results suggest that the reform increased both employment and unemployment rates of women age 60 and over. However, we do not find evidence for active program substitution from employment into alternative social support programs. Instead employed women remained employed and unemployed women remained unemployed. The results suggest an increase in inequality within the affected cohorts."

"In this paper we exploit a cohort-specific pension reform to estimate the causal labour market effects of changes in the financial incentives to retire. In particular, we analyze the effects of the introduction of cohort-specific deductions for early retirement on female retirement, employment and unemployment. For the empirical analysis we use high-quality administrative data from the German pension insurance. We present evidence for sizable labour market effects. In addition to direct effects on women older than 60 we find important anticipation effects before reaching the pension eligibility age. Overall we document that the pension reform leads to a postponement of retirement, an increase in employment and a shifting in unemployment over age rather than a substitution into unemployment."

"Large-scale exit from the labour market began in the 1970s in many OECD countries. The literature indicates that individual early retirement decisions are facilitated by generous and accessible ‘pathways' into retirement in the public pension system, unemployment insurance or disability benefits. It is unclear, however, why early exit became so much more prevalent in some countries than in others and why such differences remain, despite a recent shift back towards higher employment rates and ‘active ageing'. We test a logic of sectoral cost-shifting politics involving cross-class alliances in the tradable sector, against a more traditional class-based logic of welfare state policy-making. Quantitative analysis of employment outcomes in 21 countries shows that the political economy of early exit clearly rests on the sectoral politics of cost-shifting."

"The rise of early retirement in Europe is typically attributed to the European system of taxes and transfers. Contrary to a purely neoclassical framework, a model with imperfectly competitive labor market also allows to consider the effect of the bargaining power of labor and matching efficiency on preretirement. We find that lower bargaining power of workers and less efficient labor markets characterized by the declining matching efficiency have been an important determinant of early retirement in France and Germany. These structural changes, combined with early-retirement transfers and population ageing, are also consistent with the joint evolution of employment and unemployment rates, the labor share and the seniority premium."

"This study examines trends in labour force participation of older men (55–64 years) in the Netherlands between 1992 and 2009 using Dutch Labour Force Survey data. In this period, the share of early retirees and disability recipients steadily decreased, while labour force participation of Dutch older men increased. The authors characterize these developments both theoretically and empirically in terms of policy reforms, normative change and deindustrialization. More specifically, institutional early retirement arrangements were abolished due to the rising costs associated with the ageing of the Dutch population. Older men, therefore, became more likely to be employed, unemployed or disabled compared to early retired between 1992 and 2009. The authors also find that deindustrialization increases the chances of employment for older men with a university degree. Moreover, a shrinking industry sector is particularly harmful for the lowest educated older men, as their likelihood to be in unemployment increases compared to early retirement."

"Background Individuals with a history of mental illness have lower earnings than individuals without. A possible reason is that those with prior anxiety or depression may be more likely to exit the labour force prior to retirement age, but evidence has been mixed and limited. Our objective was to compare risk of early labour force exit between employed adults with a history of depression or anxiety versus those without, separately for men and women. Methods We used data from the Baltimore Epidemiological Catchment Area Follow-up Cohort, which collected baseline data in 1981 and follow-up data 1993–1996 and 2004–2005. Cox proportional hazards models estimated the relative risk of labour force exit comparing those with versus without prior history of anxiety or depressive disorders. Results Women with prior anxiety or depression are at 37% increased risk of dropping out of the labour force as compared to women without, controlling for age, socioeconomic status, race and marital status (HR: 1.37, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.79). Men with prior anxiety or depression are 18% more likely to subsequently drop out of the labour force as compared to men without, controlling for the above confounders as well as veteran status, but this association is not statistically significant (HR: 1.18, 95% CI 0.72 to 1.27). Conclusions Prior anxiety or depression increases risk of early labour force exit for women. These findings may help explain previously reported lower earnings among female individuals with a history of mental illness and highlight the importance of considering anxiety and depressive disorders in policies supporting labour force participation."