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Retirement Expectations in Germany—Towards Rising Social Inequality?

Author

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  • Moritz Hess

    (Institute of Gerontology, Technical University Dortmund, 44339 Dortmund, Germany)

Abstract

In the last 20 years, German policy makers have reformed the pension system and the labor market with the aim of prolonging working life. As a consequence, older workers’ employment rate and average retirement age rose. In addition to the actual behavior of today’s retiree cohorts, the reforms also influence the expected retirement age of future pensioners, the development of which will be investigated in this paper, arguing that they have adapted to the reforms and increased their expected retirement age. The analyses are based on data from the SOEP and DEAS survey and results show an increase of the expected retirement age. However, while high-skilled workers both want and expect to retire late, low-skilled workers prefer to retire early but expect that they have to work longer in order to ensure a reasonable pension. This finding hints at rising social inequality in the transition from work to retirement.

Suggested Citation

  • Moritz Hess, 2018. "Retirement Expectations in Germany—Towards Rising Social Inequality?," Societies, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-11, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:8:y:2018:i:3:p:50-:d:157217
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ebbinghaus, Bernhard, 2008. "Reforming Early Retirement in Europe, Japan and the USA," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199553396.
    2. Bönke Timm & Schröder Carsten & Schulte Katharina, 2010. "Incomes and Inequality in the Long Run: The Case of German Elderly," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 11(4), pages 487-510, December.
    3. Andries de Grip & Didier Fouarge & Raymond Montizaan, 2013. "How Sensitive are Individual Retirement Expectations to Raising the Retirement Age?," De Economist, Springer, vol. 161(3), pages 225-251, September.
    4. Deborah A. Cobb‐Clark & Steven Stillman, 2009. "The Retirement Expectations of Middle‐aged Australians," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 85(269), pages 146-163, June.
    5. Gert G. Wagner & Joachim R. Frick & Jürgen Schupp, 2007. "The German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) – Scope, Evolution and Enhancements," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 127(1), pages 139-169.
    6. James Heckman, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
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    Cited by:

    1. Liza G. Steele & Nate Breznau, 2019. "Attitudes toward Redistributive Policy: An Introduction," Societies, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-12, June.
    2. Kuhn, Ursina & Grabka, Markus M. & Suter, Christian, 2021. "Early retirement as a privilege for the rich? A comparative analysis of Germany and Switzerland," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 47, pages 100392-1003.

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