Norris, Floyd. "With That Longer Life Expectancy Expect a Life of Working Longer." The New York Times. October 29, 2005. (You can find it on Lexis-Nexis)
Years of life expectancy after average retirement age
MEN
U.S.: 17
Britain: 18
France: 21
Germany: 19
Italy: 21
Japan: 15
S. Korea: 12
WOMEN
U.S.: 21
Britain: 22
France: 26
Germany: 24
Italy: 24
Japan: 22
S. Korea: 17
"There are major differences among countries. Asians tend to work the longest, which may be crucial in the future, because the estimate is that by 2050 more than a third of the population of Japan and South Korea will be over 65. Americans work longer than most Europeans and do not face as severe a burden from a population growing older."
Intrigued by the presentation regarding age discrimination abroad, I wanted to investigate the correlation between longer life expectancy and longer work-life, as well as the problems that will result for a government should its older citizens continue to stop working at the current retirement age instead of one that reflects the upward trend in life-expectancy. This article first addresses the problem in general , citing examples of discrepency from european countries, but then goes on to explore why some people work later into life than others. Key factors ahve been found to contribute to the retirement age in a country: relative wealth, national lawas (i.e. anti-discrimination laws), and the generosity of retirement, disability and unemployment plans. The author suggests that the fiscal pressure to support those who currently benefit from, or will soon benefit from, retirement pensions and social security will induce a change in the concept of appropriate "retirement age." I agree with the presenters that current law reflects the social values of the country, but how do we ammend those laws to accomodate for upcoming social values or even predict the ammendments needed before the impact of the change is too great to recover from? It seems that the current ant-discrimination laws regarding age aren't hindering the need for a longer work-life, so what is preventing the change in retirement age from reflecting the change in life expectancy?
Years of life expectancy after average retirement age
MEN
U.S.: 17
Britain: 18
France: 21
Germany: 19
Italy: 21
Japan: 15
S. Korea: 12
WOMEN
U.S.: 21
Britain: 22
France: 26
Germany: 24
Italy: 24
Japan: 22
S. Korea: 17
"There are major differences among countries. Asians tend to work the longest, which may be crucial in the future, because the estimate is that by 2050 more than a third of the population of Japan and South Korea will be over 65. Americans work longer than most Europeans and do not face as severe a burden from a population growing older."
Intrigued by the presentation regarding age discrimination abroad, I wanted to investigate the correlation between longer life expectancy and longer work-life, as well as the problems that will result for a government should its older citizens continue to stop working at the current retirement age instead of one that reflects the upward trend in life-expectancy. This article first addresses the problem in general , citing examples of discrepency from european countries, but then goes on to explore why some people work later into life than others. Key factors ahve been found to contribute to the retirement age in a country: relative wealth, national lawas (i.e. anti-discrimination laws), and the generosity of retirement, disability and unemployment plans. The author suggests that the fiscal pressure to support those who currently benefit from, or will soon benefit from, retirement pensions and social security will induce a change in the concept of appropriate "retirement age." I agree with the presenters that current law reflects the social values of the country, but how do we ammend those laws to accomodate for upcoming social values or even predict the ammendments needed before the impact of the change is too great to recover from? It seems that the current ant-discrimination laws regarding age aren't hindering the need for a longer work-life, so what is preventing the change in retirement age from reflecting the change in life expectancy?
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11:09 AM
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