Gendered retirement pathways across lifecourse regimes

In order to capture the rapidly changing reality of older workers, it is important to study retirement not as a one-off transition, but rather as a series of diverse pathways that unfold during the period before and after reaching the full retirement age. The retirement transitions of men and women have been shown to vary widely according to individual characteristics such as health, education and marital status, but also according to macro-institutional factors, such as welfare regimes and gender norms. While there is a consensus about the combined influence of institutional and individual factors in shaping retirement transitions, previous research has rarely included both levels of analysis. This study aims to close this research gap. Using a pooled-country dataset from three panel surveys, covering 11 nations, we examine the retirement pathways of 1,594 women and 1,105 men during a 12-year period (2004–2016) around the country- and gender-specific full pension age. Results show that retirement pathways diverge considerably across countries and lifecourse regimes. The distribution of men and women between the different pathways is also variable, both within and across societal contexts. More importantly, the influence of individual-level characteristics, such as education, on the gendering of retirement pathways is not identical across societal contexts. These findings provide useful insights into the gender-differentiated implications of policies aimed at extending working lives.

Clinical and anamnestic characteristics of patients with an implanted cardioverter-defibrillator in real clinical practice (data from the Kuzbass register)

Aim To study the consistency of the practice of management, selection and routing of patients at high risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) selected for cardioverter-defibrillator implantation (CDI) with current clinical guidelines and to evaluate the quality of subsequent outpatient follow-up and treatment based on a retrospective analysis of clinical amnestic data from the Kuzbass Registry of Patients with CDI.Material and methods The study was based on the Registry of Patients with Implanted Cardioverter Defibrillator and included successive data of 28 patients hospitalized to the Kizbass Cardiological Center from 2015 through 2019. Social and clinical amnestic characteristics, indications for CVI, and concomitant drug therapy were analyzed retrospectively. Statistical analyses were performed with the Statistica 10.0 software (Statsoft, USA).Results Median age of patients was 59 (53; 66) years; 239 (83.6 %) men were included; 29 (10.1%) people were employed, CHI was performed in 182 (63.6 %) patients for prevention of SCC, and for secondary prevention in 104 (36.4 %) patients. 208 (72.7 %) patients were diagnosed with ischemic heart disease (IHD), and 145 (67.9 %) of them underwent myocardial revascularization. Noncoronarogenic diseases were found in 78 (27.3 %) patients, and most of them were diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy. All patients had chronic heart failure (CHF); half of them had stage IIA CHF. Median left ventricular ejection fraction was 30 (25; 36,5) % according to echocardiography using the Simpson method. Comorbidity was found in 151 (52.8 %) patients. 128 (44.8%) patients received a triple neurohormonal blockade for CHF treatment; titration to target doses was not performed in any of them. Antiarrhythmics were administered to 150 (52.4 %) patients.Conclusion According to the data from the Kuzbass Registry of CVI, the main patient cohort consisted of men of pension age with IHD and CHF. Before CVI, more than a half of them had not received an optimum drug therapy and not all of them had received target lesion revascularization. Creating and analysis of Registries of CHI patients is an effective method for identifying existing problems in patient management before CVI and for optimizing their subsequent follow-up and treatment.

Employment in the age group 50+ in the Baltic states and its changes in response to COVID-19

The objective of the study is to examine the patterns of the employment of older people in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania over the recent decade and the changes brought about by the first wave coronavirus pandemic in spring 2020. The study is based on the Eurostat statistical data as well as the microdata from the recent wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement (SHARE). Particular attention is paid to the data collected in SHARE Wave 8 COVID-19 Survey conducted in June-August 2020 in 26 European countries and Israel via computer-assisted telephone interviews. Questions examined how people aged 50 years and older coped with socioeconomic and health-related impact of COVID-19. During the last decade, participation of older age groups in labour market is gradually growing with the increase of the statutory retirement age and life expectancy. Employment rates in the pre-retirement and post-retirement age groups are comparatively high in Latvia and other Baltic States as contrasted to the EU averages, especially among women. Despite of relatively worse health status, people in the Baltic countries also demonstrate the highest share of respondents with willingness to work even upon reaching pension age. In 2020, the COVID-19 had relatively mild impact on it. The branches with traditionally high share of workers aged 50+ (education, healthcare, agriculture, administrative services) were least affected by lockdown measures.

Automatic Indexation of the Pension Age to Life Expectancy: When Policy Design Matters

Increasing retirement ages in an automatic or scheduled way with increasing life expectancy at retirement is a popular pension policy response to continuous longevity improvements. The question addressed here is: to what extent is simply adopting this approach likely to fulfill the overall goals of policy? To shed some light on the answer, we examine the policies of four countries that have recently introduced automatic indexation of pension ages to life expectancy–The Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal and Slovakia. To this end, we forecast an alternative period and cohort life expectancy measures using a Bayesian Model Ensemble of heterogeneous stochastic mortality models comprised of parametric models, principal component methods, and smoothing approaches. The approach involves both the selection of the model confidence set and the determination of optimal weights. Model-averaged Bayesian credible prediction intervals are derived accounting for various stochastic process, model, and parameter risks. The results show that: (i) retirement ages are forecasted to increase substantially in the coming decades, particularly if a constant period in retirement is targeted; (ii) retirement age policy outcomes may substantially deviate from the policy goal(s) depending on the design adopted and its implementation; and (iii) the choice of a cohort over period life expectancy measure matters. In addition, the distributional issues arising with the increasing socio-economic gap in life expectancy remain largely unaddressed.

The equalisation of the state pension age in United Kingdom: Indirect sex discrimination?

This commentary examines the Court of Appeal’s decision in R (Delve and Glynn) v. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which concerned the judicial review of the incremental increase of the state pension age in the United Kingdom for women born in the 1950s. It focuses on the claims of discrimination contrary to Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, in particular the discussion relating to indirect sex/sex and age discrimination. It is argued that there is scope for greater clarity in the Court’s reasoning which led to its conclusion that the measures did not result in indirect discrimination contrary to Article 14. However, the dismissal of each appeal is not surprising, in view of the adoption of the ‘manifestly without reasonable foundation’ test when scrutinising decisions relating to social welfare policy. In other words, even if the measures resulted in indirect sex discrimination, they were justified.

Re-examining female labor supply responses to the 1994 Australian pension reform

Many governments are aiming to extend working lives by raising the age at which people can claim retirement pensions. This makes it vital to understand how these policies affect retirement decisions. In this paper, I revisit the labor supply effects of a major Australian reform that increased women’s pension age from 60 to 65. Atalay and Barrett (2015) studied these effects using repeated household surveys and a differences-in-differences design in which male cohorts form the comparison group. They estimate that the reform increased female labor force participation by 12 percentage points. Using earlier data, I show that the parallel-trends assumption did not hold before the reform because of a strong female-specific trend in participation rates across the relevant cohorts. Accounting for this trend, the estimated effect on female participation falls by two-thirds and becomes statistically insignificant at conventional levels. This highlights the importance of carefully assessing and controlling for trends across cohorts when evaluating pension reforms, which are typically phased in across cohorts.

Government strategies for supporting the adult worker model in European countries: mixed implications for defamilisation

PurposeThis article explores the link between defamilisation studies and studies of the adult worker model and discusses the mixed implications that government strategies for supporting the adult worker model have for defamilisation. The adult worker model emphasises that all adult men and women ought to engage in formal employment; defamilisation studies stress the importance of enhancing women's chances of choosing (not) to perform important family roles such as the receiver of financial support and the care provider.Design/methodology/approachTwo new strategies (“condition building” and “rewarding/penalising”) for promoting the adult worker model are identified based on literature review; their empirical significance is explored through an examination of comparative data concerning early childhood education and care policies (ECEC) and reforms in pension age in 14 countries.FindingsThe evidence shows that promoting the adult worker model does not necessarily benefit all women. While the 14 countries provide ECEC to varying extents, the increase in pension age in most countries shows that governments adopt a “rewarding/penalising” strategy for promoting the adult worker model by allocating major welfare based on people's labour force participation. These pension reforms may generate a negative impact on women's chances of attaining financial autonomy.Originality/valueThis study presents two new strategies for promoting the adult worker model and shows the empirical significance of these strategies based on comparative data. It also highlights the importance of searching for alternative concepts, namely economic defamilisation, for guiding pension reforms.