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Working beyond the state pension age in the United Kingdom: the role of working time flexibility and the effects on the home
- Authors:
- CEBULLA Andreas, BUTT Sarah, LYON Nick
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 27(6), November 2007, pp.849-867.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
The present and future security of employee-pension funding remains at the forefront of public debate across Europe and beyond. In the United Kingdom, to finance future pension entitlements it has been suggested that the state pension age be increased. This paper presents the results of analyses of four major national social surveys that have explored the working and living conditions of workers in paid employment after the state pension age. Comparing the circumstances of these workers with workers just below that age illustrates the extent to which it constitutes a break in the working and domestic lives of older people. The findings suggest that, in order to accommodate older workers in the workplace, more attention may need to be placed on informal as well as contractual arrangements of flexible working. Beyond part-time working, older workers rarely take up additional or alternative flexible working arrangements. At the same time, older workers continue to experience housework as burdensome, while in partnered households the gendered division of domestic labour prevails. Research and policy have yet to consider in depth these risks associated with working longer in life.
Pensions at a glance: public policies across OECD countries
- Author:
- ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT
- Publisher:
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
- Publication year:
- 2007
- Pagination:
- 204p.
- Place of publication:
- Paris
Government-mandated pension and retirement policies have changed dramatically during the past decade. Pensions at a Glance presents a consistent framework for comparing public-pension policies across OECD countries, as well as reliable data. The report thus provides the basis for not only evaluating existing pension systems, but also designing and implementing future reforms. This second edition
Pension policy in EU25 and its impact on pension benefits
- Authors:
- ZAIDI Ashghar, GRECH George
- Journal article citation:
- Benefits, 15(3), October 2007, pp.299-311.
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
This article summarises the most recent changes in public pension policies in the countries of the European Union and describes how they affect pension benefits for future pensioners. The common trends are that the generosity of public pension benefits is on the decline, the changes are likely to shift more risks towards individuals and there are fewer possibilities of redistribution. The analyses point towards the importance of a more comprehensive assessment of these reforms so as to reduce the risk of pensioner poverty in the future.
The effect of immigration in the retirement age reforms: learning from a numerical example
- Authors:
- LACOMBA Juan A., LAGOS Francisco
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Social Welfare, 16(4), October 2007, pp.367-372.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This article examines the role played by the low-skilled immigrant labour force in countries aiming to reform their public pension systems by postponing the pensionable age. With an overlapping-generations model in continuous time and a fully redistributive pension system, the results of this article suggest that immigration could imply a delay in the pensionable retirement age. Further, the results found that the preference for a delay in retirement age increases with the labour productivity of both immigrants and native population.
Partnership consultation and employer domination in two British life and pensions firms
- Author:
- SAMUEL Peter
- Journal article citation:
- Work Employment and Society, 21(3), September 2007, pp.459-477.
- Publisher:
- Sage
... consultation committees introduced as part of partnership agreements in two employer dominant British life and pensions firms. Ineffective consultation in one firm reflected a conflictual industrial relations climate and management seeking retrenchment. In the other firm effective consultation developed notwithstanding employer dominance due to a more cooperative industrial relations climate, a history
Pension reforms in Europe and life-course politics
- Authors:
- MAIER Robert, de GRAAF Willibrord, FRERICKS Patricia
- Journal article citation:
- Social Policy and Administration, 41(5), October 2007, pp.487-504.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
In recent years, somewhat drastic pension reforms have taken place in all European countries. The pension systems developed in the last century are no longer considered to be suited to the changing demographic constellations in European countries, and the financial sustainability of these systems is under threat. Moreover, the changing political and economic set-up in European countries is also used to justify reforming the different pension systems. Different reasons can be given to explain the various pension reform measures without, however, there being any integrated coherence. The authors suggest that a politics of social policy, and of pension policy in particular, based on a life-course perspective, facilitates the understanding of the whole range of pension reform measures. In the past, the elaborated pension systems were attuned to a normative standard biography. A new standard biography, with different phases and more transitions and combinations, enables one to understand the variety of the ongoing pension reform measures. Such a life-course perspective integrates sequences of learning, working and caring considered necessary for the polity. In other words, it is based on a conception of human potential, and it integrates, to some extent, the previously separate domains of labour market policy, education policy, care policy and pension policy. However, recent theoretical and empirical studies of the life course lead to a critical evaluation of the new standard biography, with the conclusion that the new standard is one-sided and scientifically unsound, entailing challenges for social policy.
Real change, not short change: time to deliver for carers
- Author:
- CARERS UK
- Publisher:
- Carers UK
- Publication year:
- 2007
- Pagination:
- 43p.
- Place of publication:
- London
... their jobs, and sacrifice their pensions - leaving many deeply anxious about their financial future. It reveals very clearly that the current benefits system does not allow carers an acceptable standard of living and neither recognises nor values them for the contribution they make to the national economy.
Client organizations in a corporatist country: pensioners' organizations and pension policy in Sweden
- Author:
- FELTENIUS David
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of European Social Policy, 17(2), May 2007, pp.139-151.
- Publisher:
- Sage
In this article, the relevance of Paul Pierson's argument about the important role played by organizations for welfare clients is scrutinized. This is done through a case-study of pensioners' organizations in Sweden and their influence on pension policy between 1980 and 2002. In terms of Pierson's argument, Sweden is considered to be a least likely candidate, because its strong labour movement is expected to crowd out other organized interests from the policy process. The investigation reveals, however, that pensioners' organizations have been able to exert influence on pension policy on different occasions. Their influence is explained by their high rating as an organization, which enables them to represent an important group of voters. These findings contradict previous research suggesting that client organizations are weak, particularly in corporatist countries with a strong labour movement, and demonstrate that Pierson's argument also has relevance in such countries.
The impact of occupational pensions on retirement age
- Authors:
- ARKANI Sepideh, GOUGH Orla
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Policy, 36(2), April 2007, pp.297-318.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Place of publication:
- Cambridge
This article contributes to the debate about retirement age and the extent to which occupational pensions influence the decision to retire. It uses the waves of Labour Force Survey (1984-91) and Quarterly Labour Force Survey (1992-2003) to review the changes in the actual average retirement age in the UK during the period 1984-2003 by gender and ethnicity. The article investigates the link
Health care delivery systems for older adults: how do the Netherlands and Lebanon compare?
- Authors:
- HOSPERS Aaltje, CHAHINE Lama M., CHEMALI Zeina
- Journal article citation:
- Social Science and Medicine, 65(10), November 2007, pp.1979-1985.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Older individuals are given low priority compared to other age groups in many societies and geriatric care is not well-developed in many countries. With the global trend in population aging, the increasing number of older adults can be expected to challenge already-fragile health care facilities. Health care systems vary greatly from one country to another. Based on common research interests and through an educational exchange program between the University of Groningen (the Netherlands) and the American University of Beirut (Lebanon), a project was started to compare the Dutch and Lebanese health care delivery systems for older individuals, demonstrate their strengths and pitfalls, and draw from their resemblance and differences pivotal conclusions leading to positive change. The nursing homes, geriatric medicine and insurance coverage, and pension plans of both countries were studied.