The future of retirement in aging societies
Abstract
Amongst the hallmarks of a civilized society are that both the rich and the poor experience increasing longevity, and that both groups are entitled to leisure at the end of their working lives. Yet, as the economic crises of 2008-2009 reduces the value of assets in pension funds an emerging political rhetoric suggests work for retirees is healthy and that pensions take resources from younger people. This study shows that spending for programs for the elderly does not displace spending for younger populations. Evidence from 58 nations reveals pension and education spending increase together, which suggests that when political forces are allied with the elderly and young families, social spending increases across groups. A 10% increase in spending on education (as a percent of GDP) is correlated with a 7.3% increase in spending on pensions. Evidence from the US - where older people have more choices than they had before about working at advanced ages - suggests that older workers are increasing their labor force participation because retirement income is eroding, rather than because older workers find work more attractive and easier to do. Advertisers may link youthfulness with doing paid work but, in the US, the elderly improve their health after retiring, controlling for other factors affecting health status.Download Info
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Bibliographic Info
Article provided by Taylor and Francis Journals in its journal International Review of Applied Economics.
Volume (Year): 24 (2010)
Issue (Month): 3 ()
Pages: 319-331
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Web page: http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/link.asp?target=journal&id=102219
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Related research
Keywords: social security and public pensions; pension funds; government policy; economics of the elderly;References
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Blog mentions
As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:- What do Social Security, Medicare and public investments have in common? They make us richer
by Josh Bivens in Working Economics on 2012-08-22 20:29:46
Cited by:
- Codrina Rada, 2012. "The Economics of Pensions. Remarks on Growth, Distribution and Class Conflict," Working Paper Series, Department of Economics, University of Utah 2012_02, University of Utah, Department of Economics.
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