Brookings Issues Report on Retirement Trends in 20 Industrialized Countries: Recession Accelerating Delayed Retirements

A report from the Brookings Institution finds that since Great Recession, the trend toward later retirement in industrialized countries has not only continued, but has accelerated. According to "Impact of the Great Recession on Retirement Trends in Industrialized Countries," by Gary Burtless and Barry Bosworth, when the recession began most rich countries were experiencing an increase in labor force participation rates after age 60. In their paper, they examined whether the downturn slowed or reversed the trend toward higher old-age participation rates, using straightforward time series analysis to test for a break in labor force trends after 2007.

Averaging across all 20 countries in our sample, the pace of labor force participation gains has accelerated since the onset of the Great Recession. As noted, the participation rate of 60-64 year-olds increased at an average rate of 0.4 percentage points a year between 1989 and 2007. Between 2007 and 2012 the participation rate in this age group increased an average of 1.5 percentage points a year. In 12 of the 20 countries, the increase in the trend rate of participation change was statistically significant. The participation rate of 65-69 year-olds increased at an average rate of 0.1 percentage points a year between 1989 and 2007. Since 2007 the participation rate in this age group has increased an average of 0.8 percentage points a year across the sample countries. In 13 of the 20 countries, the rise in the trend rate of participation gain was statistically significant. In the oldest age group, 70-74 year-olds, the trend rate of increase in participation rose from 0.05 percentage points a year between 1989 and 2007 to 0.32 percentage points a year after 2007. In 12 of the 19 sample countries the increase in the pace of participation gain among 70-74 year-olds was statistically significant.

While countries that experienced unusually severe downturns, including Ireland and much of southern Europe, represent exceptions to this generalization, the authors conclude that, on the whole, however, the trend toward later retirement in rich countries has not been reversed as a result of the Great Recession.

According to Robert Samuelson, this study suggests that the "We may be witnessing the last gasp of early retirement" and not just in the United States.

Source: Brookings Institution Paper (December 16, 2013)

Norway: OECD Issues First Country Report on Encouraging Labor Participation by Older Workers

The OECD, as part of its aging and employment policies program to review of policies to encourage greater labor market participation at an older age by fostering employability, job mobility, and labor demand, has issued its first country report. In "Ageing and Employment Policies: Norway 2013. Working Better with Age," the OECD finds that Norway is better placed to cope with population ageing than most other countries, but that it could still do more to improve incentives and opportunities for people to stay working longer which would help ensure the country’s long-term future.

According to the report, Norway has the fourth-highest employment rate for the age group 55-64 in the OECD area, at 71% in 2012, but Norway’s labor market has a large share of older people on disability benefit: 19.6% of those aged 55-59 in the first quarter of 2012, and 30.5% of those aged 60-64. Among other things, (1) old age pensions for disabled people are to a large extent calculated as they were in the former pension system, and economic incentives to work are not much changed for public sector employees, (2) there is not enough consistency in the setting of age limits in the accrual of additional pension rights, employment protection legislation and other rules concerning mandatory retirement, and (3) even if most older workers in Norway are in stable and high-quality jobs, they experience a very low hiring rate, one-third of the OECD average.

The report recommends that Norway:

• align second-pillar pension schemes for public sector employees with the main principles of the reformed national insurance scheme;
• strengthen gate keeping to the disability scheme, in order to reduce inflows;
• ensure greater age neutrality in employers’ personnel decisions, starting with the hiring process. An objective could be for the hiring rate of older workers in Norway to reach the OECD average;
• simplify and co-ordinate age limit rules, with a view to removing age as a mandatory reason for retirement;
• Ensure that the legislative and organisational framework is neutral with regard to part-time and full-time jobs, and support initiatives to promote a “full-time culture”.

Source: OECD Press Release (June 21, 2013)

Norway: Labor Participation Rates Increasing for 62- ad 63-Year-Olds after Pension Reform

A report issued by Statistics Norway finds that 62- and 63-year-olds work longer than before, although pension reform allows them to retire at age 62. "Yrkesaktivitet blant eldre før og etter pensjonsreformen" ("Labour force participation among older persons after the Norwegian pension reform") looked at two indicators: One indicator is the change in share of the population who are employees. The second indicator is the share of the employees in a given year who are still employees one year after. This second indicator shows the share of the employees who keeps on working, which was one of the main goals of the pension reform. With respect to the first indicator, the report found:

For several years, even before pension reform was implemented in 2011, the share of the population who are employees has had a certain growth for all one-year age groups from 60 year and above. But the change from 2011 to 2012 shows that all one-year age groups from age 62 and above have had a stronger growth in the participation rate, than persons aged 60 and 61. The growth has been particularly strong for those aged 62 and 63, and this applies for both women and men. Further, the growth has been particularly strong for those with secondary education as their highest level of education.

With respect to the second indicator, the report found:

the share of the employees in one year who are still employees one year after, we present figures for those who go from being 61 to 62 years of age. The results show that there was a stronger growth in the share of the employees who are still employees one year after, from 2011 to 2012 than in the previous three years. The growth was clearly stronger for persons with primary school and secondary school than for people with a higher level of education. Still, the persons with higher education have a higher level number of employees who kept on working.

Source: Statistics Norway Publication Summary (English) (April 4, 2013); SeniorPolitikk.no "Seniorene jobber lenger enn før" (April 8, 2013)

OECD Issues Reports on Country Initiatives To Stimulate Employment of Older Workers Since 2005

In a series of country notes, the OECD has evaluated the impact of recent policy reforms and measures to boost job opportunities for older workers in 21 countries which participated in the OECD 2003-05 review of ageing and employment policies. According to the OECD:

The data show a steady increase over the past decade of the employment rate of people aged over 50 in the OECD area, from 55.6% of 50-64 year-olds in 2001 to 61.2% at the end of 2011. At the same time, the effective age at which people retire has increased slightly: for men, from 63.1 in 2001 to 63.9 in 2011 and for women, 61.1 in 2001 to 62.8 in 2011. The data also reveal a striking difference in 2011 between countries in the share of people aged over 60 still working: from 63.4% in Sweden to 14.2% in Hungary (see data for countries below).

In 2006, OECD issued its report "Live Longer, Work Longer" in which it recommended steps to:

• Strengthen financial incentives to carry on working and reducing incentives to retire early;
• Tackle employment barriers on the side of employers, such as increasing awareness of anti-age discrimination laws; and
• Improve the employability of older workers, such as boosting the incentives for job centres to place older unemployed job seekers in work.

More detailed analysis will become available in a chapter of the 2013 Employment Outlook in June 2013. In addition to the 21 country reports linked below, OECD issued a scorecard on older workers  in 34 OECD countries.

• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium (in French)
• Canada (forthcoming)
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Finland
• France (in French)
• Germany
• Ireland
• Italy
• Japan
• Korea
• Luxembourg (in French)
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Spain (in French)
• Sweden
• Switzerland (in French)
• United Kingdom
• United States

Source: OECD Ageing and Employment Policies (October 17, 2012)

Norway: State Employee Unions Seeking More Time Off for Senior Workers

According to press reports, labor unions representing state workers are demanding 12 extra days off every year, plus even more for senior workers over age 62, in order to make it easier for the employees to take care of aging parents, for example, and to discourage older workers from retiring. In particular, "[o]ne of the unions, Akademikerne, also wants workers over age 62 to receive 28 additional days off, in addition to the 30 days of paid holiday they get every year. That means senior employees would effectively get three months off every year."

As reported by Newspaper VG, Rikke Ringsrød, the union's chief negotiator in the state, since the government is trying to get more people to remain longer in work and senior political holidays (currently, all state employees over 62 years receive eight holidays a year, plus up to 6 days as may be agreed with the local employer) have proven to be useful, the union proposal is to provide flexible arrangements that each individual can choose between reduced fractional positions or other arrangements to choose to be in the job. He further suggests that these are employees who are of great benefit to employers, and that it is better that they are nine months on the job than they disappear from the workplace.

VG says that Government Ministers Rigmor Aasrud, responsible in government for wage, would not comment on the union proposals.

Source: Views and News from Norway "State workers want more time off" (May 2, 2012)

Nordic Labour Journal Publishes Issue Focused on "Age is no Barrier"

The Nordic Labour Journal has published an in focus issue on "Age is No Barrier." Focused on demystifying old age and presenting points of view and debates emerging from changing demographics, articles in the Journal include:

• "Active old age and solidarity between generations"
• "Myths dominiate attitudes to older people in the workplace"
• "Flextime key to a longer working life"
• "Just how many older workers are there? And do they want to work more?"

Source: Nordic Labour Forum (Feburary 9, 2012)

Northern Europe: Forum Addresses Encouraging Older Workers To Stay in Workforce

At the Northern Europe Forum, on 8-9 February 2012, the leaders of the Nordic and Baltic countries and the United Kingdom met to discuss common social challenges, focusing on two important issues that are vital to achieving long-term sustainable growth: (1) How do we get more women into top positions and more women entrepreneurs? and (2) How do we get senior citizens to stay longer in the labour force? In addition, a conference on "Beyond 65: new life chances in the labour market" was organized by the Government Commission on the Future of Sweden to run alongside the Northern Future Forum.

On the latter issue, "[f]lexibility, a voluntary basis and respect for the skills and experience of senior people were among the most frequent words heard in the discussion on how the nine prime ministers could increase the proportion of senior people in the workforce. The delegates at the Northern Future Forum seemed to agree that the issue is complex and requires a change of attitude across the whole of society." A summary of the day's discussions as well as a webcast on the topic are available.

In preparation for the forum a paper--"Nine countries’ perspectives on women entrepreneurs and leaders and senior citizens in the labour force"--was published with a country-by-country description of the initiatives that have been taken to get older persons to stay in the work force. In addition, documents were prepared of statistics of the number of seniors in the workforce.

At the Commission on the Future session, the message from Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt was that more people must be encouraged to work into older age and they must be prepared to retrain or change professions or careers during our working lives.

Sources: Nordic Labour Journal "Older people to be encouraged to work for longer" (February 9, 2012); Government of Sweden Northern Future Forum

Norway: Survey Finds Seniors Want To Keep Working, Employers Unprepared

Over half of respondents in the Norwegian Senior Policy Barometer would like to work after they have been entitled to a pension, but the majority of companies have no strategy for how to maintain and further develop the seniors. Specifically, the survey conducted for the Centre for Senior Policy reports that 66% of workers over 60 want to continue to work after reaching pension eligibility an increase from 54% in 2004.

According to Centre director Kari Østerud, a strategy to keep seniors in the workplace is not only about the senior's desire for more holidays and more flexible working hours. More importantly, it's about to be seen at work, having the opportunity to learn more, and the exciting challenges in the workplace.

The survey also found that the age before employees want to leave the workforce rose from 63.2 to 65 for 2011--the strongest increase in age ever measured. For those over 60, the age is even higher they want to come out of the workforce at 66.8, which is significantly higher than expected retirement age in Norway today.

Source: Centre for Senior Policy Press Release (October 19, 2011)

Norway: Centre for Senior Policy to Hold Book Launch Covering 2010's Conference on Older Workers in a Sustainable Society

Norway's Centre for Senior Policy (Senter for seniorpolitikk) is holing a book launch on May 5 for Older Workers in a Sustainable Society, edited by Richard Ennals and Robert H Salomon. The launch will include comments by the Centre's director director Kari Østerud about the challenges and opportunities for older workers in Norway and by Liv Tørres political adviser in the Ministry of Labour, who will speak about Norway's position before the European Year of Active Ageing in 2012.

Ennals and Salomon's book follows on from the conference sponsored by the Centre in 2010. The three-day conference ("Older Workers in a Sustainable Society: Great Needs and Great Potentials") heard from speakers from several countries about the potentials of older workers, both individually and as an important part of societies' work force.

The conference was designed to put a different perception on the agenda; older workers as experienced and mature, a valuable source of talent, skills and knowledge, and ready, willing and able to work. It explored the social and economic potential in an ageing society and addressed the question of research contribution to employment of older workers. Among other topics, the conference had sessions and workshops on older workers work performance, productivity and quality; reducing age discrimination in working life; the work environment and older workers; and lifelong learning and competence at work. Presentations and abstracts from the conference are available on the web.

Source: Senter for seniorpolitikk Calendar of Events (May 5, 2011)

Norway: Statistics Show Increase in Employment of Older Workers

According to a report in Aftenposten, numbers releaed by the state statistics bureau (SSB) showed an increase in the number of older workers getting back into the job market. Faced with a labour shortage, many employers have started welcoming retirees who want to go back to work. Specifically, workers aged 67-74 boosted their share of the workforce by 4%, while there were 1.5% more workers aged 55-66 during the first quarter of 2007. The article did note, however, that most of the older workers are in part-time positions, working less than 20 hours a week.

Source: Aftenposten "Jobless rate steady" (May 4, 2007)

Norway: Pension Reform Agreement Supports Older Workers

Norway's center-left government and opposition parties reached a compromise on pension reforms that are intended to encourage older workers to stay in employment longer and to make pensions fair and sustainable. Among other things, future pension options will include retirement at age 62, but there are strong incentives to continue until age 70. According to an article by Aftenposten's Norwegian reporter Sigurd Bjørnestad, the agreement keeps Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's pension reform promise to give everyone more was more or less intact.

The new system is complex, with many new pros and cons, with the clearest perhaps being the ability to choose between a longer retirement on less of a pension, and working long to guarantee a more comfortable, though shorter, retirement. A key change is the ability to work as much as one likes after retirement without losing pension benefits.

Source: Aftenposten "Pension reform agreed" (March 22, 2007)

Other Sources: Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion The Pension Reform

Norway: First Senior-only Temp Agency Opens

According to a report from Norwegian Broadcasting, Norway has started its first manpower service drawing solely on the resources of older workers. Seniorformidling is the name of the unique bureau that only links employers with workers over the age of 50.

Founder Tor Kristian Johansen says: "Older job seekers often experience being put at the back of the applicant queue, and fall to the wayside because of their age." More and more companies are contacting the senior manpower service, which confirms an emerging trend towards using experienced workers to fill temporary gaps.

Source: Aftenposten "Senior service" (January 2, 2007)