Retire later or work harder?
Bell, David N.F. ; Hart, Robert A.
Institute of Labor Economics, Bonn
IZA - Bonn
2010
32 p.
older worker ; retirement age ; statistics ; working time
Discussion Paper Series
4720
Social protection - Old age benefits
English
Bibliogr.
"We compare two policies of increasing British state pension provision: (a) increase the pensionable age of men and women, (b) maintain the existing retirement age but require older workers to work longer per-period hours. There are reasons for policy makers to give serious consideration to the under-researched alternative (b). First, from wage - hours contract theory we know that there are potential gains to both workers and firms of allowing hours to rise in work experience. Second, there is strong evidence that job satisfaction rises in age. Third, there has in any case been a significant overall increase in the hours supplied by older workers in the last two decades. We review the relevant theory, model the trade-off between later retirement versus increased work intensity, produce relevant background facts, and provide estimates of the policy trade-offs. "
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