To a backdrop of ageing societies, pension crises and labour market reforms, this book investigates how the policy shift from early retirement to active ageing has affected individual retirement behaviour. Focusing on eleven European countries, the United States and Japan, it brings together leading international experts to analyze recent changes in pension systems. Their findings demonstrate that there has been a fundamental transition in pension policies and a steep increase in older workers' retirement ages and employment rates. Yet changes in retirement behavior are not evenly distributed across all societal strata. This raises the serious concern that an overall rise in the retirement age will be accompanied by the re-emergence of social inequality in the transition from work to retirement. This innovative edited collection will appeal to students and scholars of sociology, economics, political science, human resources management, gerontology and social policy, and also to policy-makers and professionals dealing with older workers.

To a backdrop of ageing societies, pension crises and labour market reforms, this book investigates how the policy shift from early retirement to active ageing has affected individual retirement behaviour. Focusing on eleven European countries, the United States and Japan, it brings together leading international experts to analyze recent changes in pension systems. Their findings demonstrate that there has been a fundamental transition in pension policies and a steep increase in older workers' retirement ages and employment rates. Yet changes in retirement behavior are not evenly distributed across all societal strata. This raises the serious concern that an overall rise in the retirement age will be accompanied by the re-emergence of social inequality in the transition from work to retirement. This innovative edited collection will appeal to students and scholars of sociology, economics, political science, human resources management, gerontology and social policy, and also to policy-makers and professionals dealing with older workers.

In diesem Sammelband befassen sich die Autor*innen mit sozialen Ungleichheiten im Verrentungsgeschehen in 5 Landern mit besonderem Fokus auf Deutschland. Berichtet werden eigene, z.T. empirische Forschungsergebnisse aus dem EXTEND-Projekt (Social inequalities in extending working lives) zu institutionellen Veranderungen in den Arbeitsmarkt- und Rentenpolitiken und Auswirkungen auf Verrentungsentscheidungen und -praktiken, Beschaftigungssituationen alterer Arbeitnehmer*innen, Einfluss von Gesundheit auf Lebensqualitat in der vor- und nachberuflichen Lebensphase, Vereinbarkeit von Arbeit und Pflege, Arbeitsbedingungen im professionellen Altenpflegesektor, Good Practices und Kosten-Nutzen-Analysen, Empfehlungen fur Politik und betriebliche Praxis.