Jun 22, 2013

I Don't Know What To Make Of This

     Below is a table from the Social Security Administration's monthly International Update. The Update deals, in part, with changes made in early retirement programs. I don't think that differences in social insurance programs can explain these dramatic differences between countries or that changes in social insurance programs explain the differences over time in individual countries. I don't know what to make of a lot of this. For example, why the dramatic differences between Spain and Portugal for those aged 65-69? In any case, the Update notes that many European countries are raising the minimum age for early retirement under their social insurance programs and that they are generally encouraging older workers to stay in the workforce, or, perhaps, more accurately, punishing those who don't.

Table 1. Older workers in the labor force in selected European Union countries, as a percentage of their age group, 2001 and 2011
Country Aged 55–64 Aged 65–69
2001 2011 2001 2011
Belgium 25.2 38.7 2.4 3.5
Czech Republic 37.1 47.6 7.6 9.3
Denmark 56.5 59.5 12.2 13.5
Finland 45.9 57.0 5.3 11.8
France 30.7 41.4 2.1 5.3
Germany 37.9 59.9 5.4 10.1
Greece 38.0 39.4 10.3 8.6
Ireland 46.9 50.8 14.8 16.8
Netherlands 37.3 56.1 5.6 11.4
Poland 29.0 36.9 10.8 9.4
Portugal 50.2 47.9 27.8 21.9
Spain 39.2 44.5 3.9 4.5
SOURCE: "Older Workers Scorecard, 2001, 2005, and 2011," OECD, 2011.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here's one thing to make of it...

In countries with good education and health systems, people are able to work longer.

Anonymous said...

Here's another thing to make of it,

If you think you would live better and longer and prosper more in said other countries, by all means, please go.

Anonymous said...

For the most part they are no different than Americans. Their stock market went to hell, they don't make any money on savings, few employers offer a retirement plan anymore, and those that do have cut their contributions. Not to mention some of these countries are far worse off economically than we are.