Retirement Transitions Under Changing Institutional Conditions: Towards Increasing Inequalities? Comparing Evidence from 13 Countries

Delaying Retirement. Progress and Challenges of Active Ageing in Europe, the United States and Japan
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pp. 363-378
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London
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Palgrave Macmillan
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2016,

Heß, Moritz, Stefanie König, Dirk Hofäcker
ISBN: 978-1-137-56696-6 (print); 978-1-137-56697-3 (online)
DOI: 
10.1057/978-1-137-56697-3_16
Abstract

The concluding chapter summarizes the theoretical approach of the book and provides a stylized overview of the results from the international comparison and the 13 single country studies. It highlights that the major pension system and labor market reforms throughout the last 15 years in Europe, Japan, and the USA have been effective in meeting their goal of delaying retirement. However, it seems as if not all older workers are benefiting from this trend. Vulnerable labor market groups such as the low-skilled, unemployed, long-term sick, and migrants are struggling to meet the requirements of the new active aging policy. Policymakers, trade unions, and employers must recognize the inequalities that the credo of extended working life might cause and keep them in mind when planning new reforms of the welfare state or changes to workplace settings.