Open AccessReversing Early Retirement in Germany<br>A Longitudinal Analysis of the Effects of Recent Pension Reforms on the Timing of the Transition to Retirement and on Pension Incomes<br>
Author(s) -
Sandra Buchholz,
Annika Rinklake,
Hans-Peter Blossfeld
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
comparative population studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.419
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1869-8999
pISSN - 1869-8980
DOI - 10.12765/cpos-2013-23
Subject(s) - pension , german , economics , pension system , inequality , longitudinal data , order (exchange) , retirement age , labour economics , demographic economics , finance , sociology , geography , mathematical analysis , demography , mathematics , archaeology
This article investigates the effects and risks of recent pension reforms in Germany. While German pension policy systematically supported early retirement for many years in order to relieve the regulated labour market in times of economic stagnation, there has been a substantial change of the pension policy paradigm in the more recent past. Latest reforms expect older people to prolong working life. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) and applying micro-level longitudinal research methods, this contribution shows that the recent reversal of early retirement in Germany has been at the price of growing social inequalities in old age.