Stefanie König, Julia Schilling
The Outdistanced Vanguard: Early Retirement Policy in Denmark as an Obstacle to Progress in Active Aging

The authors describe the case of Denmark that is said to be one of the few countries in the world coping well with the challenge of providing older workers with a favorable labor market situation and socially adequate old age pensions. Compared to other countries, however, employment rates of older workers over 60 have not increased significantly in recent years. This might be related to a generous early retirement scheme. Furthermore, educational attainment and gender impact heavily on a person’s retirement timing. In sum, Denmark’s reputation as a vanguard in a context of “active aging” is in question.