scholarly journals Combining Work and Pension in Norway: Gathering Information and Imagining the Future

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Skevik Grødem ◽  
Ragni Hege Kitterød
Keyword(s):  
Older Workers ◽  
Pension System ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Early Death ◽  
Institutional Trust ◽  
Retirement Savings ◽  
Sense Of Ownership ◽  
Information Strategies ◽  
The Future

The Norwegian pension system has provided unprecedented flexibility to combine work and pension drawing from the age of 62, and this has become a popular option. Using qualitative interviews with 28 older workers, we explore their information strategies and motivations. We find that many informants struggle to understand the various options and their consequences and use different strategies to shield themselves from insecurity: they downplay the issue or point to factors beyond their control. Two key motives for early pension take-up are the desire to secure the money for one’s family in the event of early death and to get the money while still vigorous. Informants typically imagine life after 80 as quiet and with fewer material demands. In conclusion, the analysis shows how adaptations to the flexible pension system are embedded in notions of ageing, institutional trust, and a newfound sense of ownership regarding one’s retirement savings.

Behaviour, choice, and British pension policy

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon L. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Service Sector ◽  
Pension System ◽  
Retirement Savings ◽  
Occupational Pension ◽  
Pension Policy ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Policy Regime ◽  
The Future ◽  
Pension Saving

Over the past decade, the British pension system has been turned upside-down. Once lauded as a viable, long-term mix of public and private institutions, each element has been challenged as to its efficacy. Notably, private sector occupational pensions have been discounted by employers, just as ‘mis-selling’ scandals in the financial service sector have eroded trust in long-term savings products. Lord Turner’s model for the future was influenced by the behavioural revolution in cognitive science and behavioural psychology. In this paper, the key elements of the behavioural revolution are identified and linked to new forms of British occupational pension saving. While supportive of this research programme, there remain significant shortcomings. The penultimate section of the paper shifts attention to the Chancellor’s budget announcement prior to the 2015 general election providing individuals access to their retirement savings. In conclusion, implications are drawn for understanding the future of the structured-choice pension policy regime.

scholarly journals Older workers imagining retirement: the collapse of agency, or freedom at last?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Anne Skevik Grødem ◽  
Ragni Hege Kitterød
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Older Workers ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Social Meaning ◽  
Active Engagement ◽  
Work Patterns ◽  
Ideal Types ◽  
Retirement Decisions ◽  
The Ideal

Abstract Images of what retirement is and ought to be are changing. Older workers are being encouraged to work for longer, at the same time, older adults increasingly voice expectations of a ‘third age’ of active engagement and new life prospects. In this article, we draw on the literature on older workers’ work patterns and retirement transitions (noting push/pull/stay/stuck/jump factors), and on scholarship on the changing social meaning of old age, most importantly the notions of a ‘third’ and ‘fourth’ age. The analysis is based on qualitative interviews with 28 employees in the private sector in Norway, aged between 55 and 66 years. Based on the interviews, we propose three ideal-typical approaches to the work–retirement transition: ‘the logic of deadline’, ‘the logic of negotiation’ and ‘the logic of averting retirement’. The ideal-types are defined by the degree to which informants assume agency in the workplace, their orientation towards work versus retirement and the degree to which they expect to exercise agency in retirement. We emphasise how retirement decisions are informed by notions of the meaning of ageing, while also embedded in relationships with employers and partners.

scholarly journals Affordances and tensions in recording bird observations: how coordinators and volunteers perceive and experience citizen science in birding

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (02) ◽  
pp. A10
Author(s):  
Helen Verploegen ◽  
Wessel Ganzevoort ◽  
Riyan van den Born
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Methods ◽  
Data Sharing ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Future Design ◽  
Science Projects ◽  
The Future

Digital citizen science projects differ greatly in their goals and design. Tensions arise when coordinators' design choices and conceptions of citizen science conflict with users' motivations and expectations. In this paper, we use a combination of qualitative methods to gain new insights into the ways citizen science is understood and implemented digitally. This includes a study into the affordances of two citizen science portals for bird observations, and qualitative interviews with users and coordinators of the portals. This reveals tensions related to data sharing, community hierarchies, and communicated expectations. Awareness of these tensions can benefit the future design of online citizen science projects.

scholarly journals Parents with an Unemployed Adult Child: Consumption, Income, and Savings Effects

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Anne Edwards ◽  
Jeffrey B. Wenger
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Older Workers ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
Risk Sharing ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Adult Child ◽  
Retirement Savings ◽  
Parent Outcomes ◽  
Labor Market Shocks ◽  
Market Shocks

AbstractThe risk of labor market, health, and asset-value shocks comprise profound retirement savings challenges for older workers. Parents, however, may experience added risk if their children experience adverse labor market shocks. Prior research has shown that parents support their children financially through an unemployment spell. In this paper, we also provide evidence of financial support from parents and investigate if this financial support is accompanied by adjustments to parental consumption, income, or savings behavior. With longitudinal data on mothers and children from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we use within-mother variation in behavior to identify the effect of a child’s labor market shock on parent outcomes. We find evidence of a decline in consumption, an increase in labor supply, and a decrease retirement savings, though the results are heterogenous among mothers. Our results point to aggregate inefficiencies and inequities that may result from family risk sharing.

scholarly journals Measuring retirement savings adequacy: developing a multi-pillar approach in the Netherlands

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARIKE KNOEF ◽  
JIM BEEN ◽  
ROB ALESSIE ◽  
KOEN CAMINADA ◽  
KEES GOUDSWAARD ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pension System ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Median Income ◽  
Retirement Savings ◽  
Housing Wealth ◽  
Replacement Rate ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Private Savings ◽  
The Uk

AbstractThe Dutch pension system is highly ranked on adequacy. These rankings, however, are based on fictitious replacement rates for median income earners. This paper investigates whether the Dutch pension adequacy is still high when we take into account the resources that people really accumulate, using a large administrative data set. A comprehensive approach is followed: not only public and private pension rights, but also private savings and housing wealth are taken into account. Summed over all age- and socioeconomic groups we find a median gross replacement rate of 83% and a net replacement rate of 101%. At retirement age, 31% of all households face a gross replacement rate that is lower than 70% of current income. Public and occupational pensions each account for more than 35% of total pension annuities. Private non-housing assets account for 14% and imputed rental income from net housing wealth accounts for about 10%. Some vulnerable groups, such as the self-employed, have below average replacement rates. Results are fairly similar to results found in the UK, indicating that we should be careful in evaluating the adequacy of pensions systems on the basis of fictitious replacement rates.

Our Changing World

2022 ◽  
pp. 13-63
Keyword(s):  
Employee Engagement ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Work Hours ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Family And Work ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
The Way ◽  
Changing World

COVID-19 has dramatically changed our world in terms of telework specifically and remote life in general. We are still learning new things about balancing family and work; trustworthiness, performance, and accountability issues; important changes and discoveries about the way the world goes to work; and discussions of the dynamic ways people communicate. This chapter examines reasons for resistance to telework to shed light on how COVID-19 has changed us. The discussion that follows centers on qualitative interviews concerning telework, an evaluation of employee engagement now and in the future, and ideas and actions that should prove helpful to organizations. Analyzing the interviews reveals several common threads: distractions, fatigue, accountability, communication, productivity, technology, coping, work hours, resources, and plan approaches.

scholarly journals Good job, good pension? The influence of the workplace on saving for retirement

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (11) ◽  
pp. 2483-2501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynne Robertson-Rose
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Retirement Savings ◽  
Defined Contribution ◽  
Retirement Benefits ◽  
Utility Company ◽  
Proactive Approach ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Income Adequacy ◽  
Embedded Case Study

AbstractMost private-sector employees in the United Kingdom (UK) are automatically enrolled into individualised defined contribution (DC) pension accounts. In a DC environment, income adequacy in retirement is highly dependent on the decisions that individuals make earlier in their lives. The ease with which they move into employment, and the pension support that they then receive from their employer, can be critical in determining outcomes. This paper discusses how employees respond to workplace pension schemes and the circumstances under which they assess the suitability of their contributions. The findings are based on an embedded case study comprising qualitative interviews with 25 employees of a large UK utility company. Participants were selected on the basis of socio-economic similarity. The research concluded that fixed-term employment negatively impacted on saving for retirement, both with respect to scheme membership and to the level of saving. Furthermore, it was found that the employment context had an influence upon retirement savings behaviour. The proactive approach of the employer in providing retirement benefits, and the trust that employees had in their employer, positively influenced membership and contribution levels. In addition to employer endorsement effects, both the encouragement of older work colleagues and workplace norms had a role to play in influencing how successfully individuals prepared for retirement.

scholarly journals Does the Olympic Agenda 2020 Have the Power to Create a New Olympic Heritage? An Analysis for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games Bid

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Schnitzer ◽  
Lukas Haizinger
Keyword(s):  
Crucial Role ◽  
Olympic Games ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Feasibility Studies ◽  
International Olympic Committee ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
The Future ◽  
Winter Olympic Games

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) lacks candidates willing to host the Olympic Games (OG) and has reacted to this situation by introducing the Olympic Agenda 2020 (OA)—a reform process making the OG more attractive for potential hosts. This study analyzes whether the OA plays a crucial role for the future of the OG. We, therefore, examined the official IOC documents and feasibility studies of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games (WOG) bidders and conducted qualitative interviews with experts in the field (n = 15). The results reveal that the 2026 WOG hosts plan to reduce the budgets for the organization and the infrastructure costs in the host regions. As a consequence, the number and nature of the sites and venues as well as the distances between them will increase. This means that the future Olympic heritage (OH) may lay less in iconic buildings but rather focus on the attempt to fulfil the city’s long-term strategies. Our analyses extend the literature by: (1) analysing the OA in view of future OG, (2) comparing experiences from past OG with those of current bidders, (3) integrating expert knowledge thanks to qualitative interviews and, finally, (4) considering new heritage concepts.

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