In response to the challenges of population aging, many countries have introduced gradual increases of the statutory eligibility age and shut down pathways to early retirement. There are, however, many incentives left which create early retirement, in particular earnings tests and less than actuarial adjustmaent rates, both of which are still frequent in Europe.

Many EU Member States have implemented reforms to improve the sustainability of their pension systems. However, the impact of discouraging early retirement and increasing the pension age on effective retirement ages is limited, as many people are unable or unmotivated to work until pension age.

Runa Kristiane Sæther

En arbeidsgruppe har utredet ulike alternativer for tilpasninger i privat tjenestepensjon. Rapporten fra arbeidsgruppen tar for seg ulike alternativer for såkalt egen pensjonskonto, økt mulighet for individuell pensjonssparing og kriterier for rett til pensjonsopptjening. Arbeidsgruppen har bestått av medlemmer fra Finansdepartementet, Arbeids- og sosialdepartementet og Finanstilsynet. Det ble også opprettet en referansegruppe med deltakelse fra partene i arbeidslivet, finansnæringen og Forbrukerrådet.

We distinguish between part-time and full-time work activity and analyse their effects on the physical and mental health conditions of older workers in Europe.We use statutory eligibility ages for receiving retirement benefits as instruments for part-time and full-time work decisions to avoid the potential bias that deteriorating health conditions can cause employees to work fewer hours or not at all.We also control for unobserved heterogeneity across individuals.

Etter omleggingen av AFP-ordningen i privat sektor, har antall mottakere økt betydelig, samtidig som langt færre slutter i arbeid når de starter uttak av AFP.

Social Security Disability Insurance beneficiaries undergo periodic medical reviews to determine if they continue to be eligible for disability benefits. We examine how these reviews affect beneficiary well-being by using administrative data to track the earnings of beneficiaries for up to 5 years after their reviews. We estimate that a sizeable percentage of beneficiaries would work if their benefits were ceased in a medical review. However, many appear to be unable to maintain employment: only one in three would have earnings over the full follow-up period. Further, far fewer would reach any of several measures of earnings sufficiency.