Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T22:18:45.290Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

On how different combinations of conditions produce different early exit/retirement outcomes: a qualitative (case-oriented) comparison of Denmark and Sweden

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2020

Per H. Jensen Open the ORCID record for Per H. Jensen [Opens in a new window]
Per H. Jensen*
Affiliation:
Center for Comparative Welfare Studies, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
*
*Corresponding author. Email: perh@dps.aau.dk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Denmark and Sweden are rather similar in most societal dimensions, but differ markedly with regard to the employment rate among older workers, which in 2015 was 65 per cent in Denmark and 75 per cent in Sweden. Using a qualitative (or case-oriented) comparative approach, this article seeks to identify configurations or combinations of conditions that have produced these differences in older workers’ work patterns. From an inter-disciplinary perspective, the article draws on the conceptual framework of push (e.g. involuntary retirement due to poor health), pull (e.g. voluntary retirement because of generous welfare benefits), jump (e.g. exit due to a search for life conditions that are more fulfilling than paid work), stay (e.g. older workers remain voluntarily in the labour market because work is fulfilling and well paid) and stuck (e.g. older workers remain involuntarily in the labour market because they cannot afford to retire). Findings are that low employment rates in Denmark are an outcome of a relatively strong combination of push–pull–jump factors, while Sweden, with its high employment rate, exhibits a combination of stay–stuck conditions.

Keywords

ageing labour forceageing policyemploymentearly exit/retirementpensionsqualitative comparisonDenmark and SwedenSocial Democratic welfare states
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 41 , Issue 10 , October 2021 , pp. 2335 - 2355
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andersen, JG (2011) Denmark: the silent revolution toward a multipillar pension system. In Ebbinghaus, B (ed.), The Varieties of Pension Governance: Pension Privatization in Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 183‒209.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199586028.003.0007CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andersen, LL, Jensen, PH and Sundstrup, E (in press) Barriers and opportunities for prolonging working life across different occupational groups: the SeniorWorkingLife study. European Journal of Public Health. Available online doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckz146.Google Scholar
Arber, S and Ginn, J (1995) Choice end constraint in the retirement of older married women. In Arber, S and Ginn, J (eds), Connecting Gender and Ageing. Philadelphia, PA: Open University Press, pp. 69‒86.Google Scholar
ASPA (2009) ASPA Survey Among Employers. ASPA – 7th FP Project. Available at www.aspa-eu.com.Google Scholar
Atchley, RC (1982) Retirement as a social institution. Annual Review of Sociology 8, 263‒287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barr, N (2013) The Pension System in Sweden (Report to the Expert Group on Public Economics No. 7). Stockholm: Ministry of Finance.Google Scholar
Blau, DM (1998) Labor force dynamics of older married couples. Journal of Labor Economics 16, 595‒629.10.1086/209900CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blöndal, S and Scarpetta, S (1999) The retirement decision in OECD countries. Economics Department, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Working Paper 202.Google Scholar
Börsch-Supan, A (2000) Incentives effects of social security on labor force participation: evidence in Germany and across Europe. Journal of Public Economics 78, 25–49.10.1016/S0047-2727(99)00110-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bourdieu, P, Chamboredon, J-C and Passeron, J-C (1991) The Craft of Sociology. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110856460CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casey, B (1992) Redundancy and early retirement: the interaction of public and private policy in Britain, Germany and the USA. British Journal of Industrial Relations 30, 425‒443.10.1111/j.1467-8543.1992.tb00783.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coile, C (2004) Retirement incentives and couples’ retirement decisions. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy 4, 1‒30.Google Scholar
de Vroom, B (2004) Age-arrangements, age-culture and social citizenship. In Maltby, T, de Vroom, B, Mirabile, ML and Øverbye, E (eds), Ageing and the Transition to Retirement. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, pp. 6‒17.Google Scholar
Ebbinghaus, B (ed.) (2011) The Varieties of Pension Governance: Pension Privatization in Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ebbinghaus, B (2019) Multipillarisation remodelled: the role of interest organizations in British and German pension reforms. Journal of European Public Policy 26, 521–539.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ebbinghaus, B and Hofäcker, D (2013) Reversing early retirement in advanced welfare economies: a paradigm shift to overcome push and pull factors. Comparative Population Studies 38, 807‒840.10.12765/CPoS-2013-24CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eismann, M, Henkens, K and Kalmijn, M (2019) Why singles prefer to retire later. Research on Aging 41, 936–960.10.1177/0164027519873537CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
European Commission (2017) The 2018 ageing report. European Commission, Institutional Paper 065.Google Scholar
Eurostat (2014) Situation of people with disabilities in the EU. Newsrelease 184/2014, December 2. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/6181592/3-02122014-BP-EN.pdf/aefdf716-f420-448f-8cba-893e90e6b460.Google Scholar
Eurostat (nd-a) Employment Rate of Older Workers, Age Group 55‒64. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-datasets/product?code=tesem050.Google Scholar
Eurostat (nd-b) People at Risk of Poverty or Social Exclusion by Age and Sex. Available at http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/submitViewTableAction.do.Google Scholar
Feldman, DC (1994) The decision to retire early: a review and conceptualization. Academy of Management Review 19, 285‒311.10.5465/amr.1994.9410210751CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, GG, Chaffee, DS and Sonnega, A (2016) Retirement timing: a review and recommendations for future research. Work, Ageing and Retirement 2, 230‒261.10.1093/workar/waw001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friis, K (2012) Det er så yndigt at følges ad: tilbagetrækningen fra arbejdsmarkedet set i et husstandsperspektiv. In Andersen, JG and Jensen, PH (eds), Tilbagetrækning fra arbejdsmarkedet – årsager og effekter. Copenhagen: Frydenlund Academic, pp. 137‒157.Google Scholar
Giddens, A (1990) The Consequences of Modernity. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Ginn, J, Street, D and Arber, S (2001) Women, Work and Pensions. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Gould, R and Polvinen, A (2008) Expertise. In Gould, R, Ilmarinen, J, Järvisalo, J and Koskinen, S (eds), Dimensions of Work Ability. Helsinki: Finnish Centre for Pensions, pp. 91‒94.Google Scholar
Gruber, J and Wise, DA (1999) Social Security and Retirement Around the World. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Guillemard, A-M (2003) France: struggling to find a way out of the early exit culture. Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance 28, 558‒574.10.1111/1468-0440.00246CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gustman, AL and Steinmeier, TL (2000) Retirement in dual-career families: a structural model. Journal of Labor Economics 18, 503‒545.10.1086/209968CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hansen, CD (2019) Comparing fatal occupational accidents in Denmark and Sweden 1993‒2012. Occupational Medicine 69, 283‒286.10.1093/occmed/kqz064CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hengel, KMO, Blatter, BM, Geuskens, GA, Koppes, LLJ and Bongers, PM (2012) Factors associated with the ability and willingness to continue working until the age of 65 in construction workers. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 85, 783‒790.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henretta, JC (2003) A life-course perspective on work and retirement. In Settersten, RA (ed.), Invitation to the Life Course: Toward New Understandings of Later Life. Amityville, NY: Baywood, pp. 85‒105.Google Scholar
Herbertsson, TT (2001) Why Icelanders Do Not Retire Early. Västerås, Sweden: Pensionsforum.Google Scholar
Higgs, P, Mein, G, Ferrie, J, Hyde, M and Nazroo, J (2003) Pathways to early retirement: structure and agency in decision-making among British civil servants. Ageing & Society 23, 761‒778.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hofäcker, D and Radl, J (2016) Retirement transitions in times of institutional change: theoretical concept. In Hofäcker, D, Hess, M and König, S (eds), Delaying Retirement. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1‒21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hofäcker, D, Hess, M and Naumann, E (2015) Changing retirement transitions in times of paradigmatic political change: towards growing inequality. In Torp, C (ed.), Challenges of Aging. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 205‒226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hurd, M (1998) The joint retirement decision of husbands and wives. National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, NBER Working Paper 2803.Google Scholar
Ilmarinen, J (2005) Towards a Longer Worklife! Helsinki: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.Google Scholar
International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) (2015) Available at https://www.gesis.org/en/institute/.Google Scholar
Jensen, PH (2005) Reversing the trend from ‘early’ to ‘late’ exit: push, pull and jump revisited in a Danish context. The Geneva Papers 30, 656‒673.Google Scholar
Jensen, PH (2017) Danish flexicurity: preconditions and future prospects. Industrial Relations Journal 48, 218‒230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensen, PH and Kjeldgaard, T (2002) Årsager og effekter af den tidlige tilbagetrækning fra arbejdsmarkedet. Arbejdsliv 3, 43‒62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensen, PH, Kongshøj, K and de Tavernier, W (2020) On how the nature of early retirement is related to post-retirement life conditions from a citizenship perspective. Ageing & Society 40, 1106‒1129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, RW (2004) Do Spouses Coordinate Their Retirement Decisions? Boston, MA: Boston College.Google Scholar
Juel, K (2008) Life expectancy and mortality in Denmark compared to Sweden: what is the effect of smoking and alcohol? Ugeskrift for Laeger 170, 2423‒2427.Google ScholarPubMed
Knuth, M and Kalina, T (2002) Early exit from the labour force between exclusion and privilege: unemployment as a transition from employment to retirement in West Germany. European Societies 4, 393‒418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kohli, M (1988) Ageing as a challenge for sociological theory. Ageing & Society 8, 367‒394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kohli, M and Rein, M (1991) The changing balance of work and retirement. In Kohli, M, Rein, M, Guillemard, A-M and van Gunsteren, H (eds), Time for Retirement: Comparative Studies of Early Exit from the Labor Force. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1‒35.Google Scholar
Leime, AN, Street, D, Vickerstaff, S, Krekula, C and Loretto, W (eds) (2017) Gender Ageing and Extended Working Life. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maltby, T (2011) Extending working lives? Social Policy and Society 10, 299‒308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martinez, MC and Fischer, FM (2019) Work ability as determinant of termination of employment. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 61, 272–281.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nielsen, TM (2004) De ældre og arbejdsmarkedet [Seniors and the Labor Market]. Copenhagen: Statistics Denmark.Google Scholar
Nilsson, K (2012) Why work beyond 65? Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies 2, 7‒28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nordic Statistics (nd) Available at https://www.nordicstatistics.org/.Google Scholar
NOSOSCO (2017) Social Protection in the Nordic Countries. Available at http://norden.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1148493/FULLTEXT02.pdf.Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2006) Live Longer, Work Longer: A Synthesis Report. Paris: OECD Publishing.Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2010) Education at a Glance. Paris: OECD Publishing.Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2017) Health at a Glance. Paris: OECD Publishing.Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (nd-a) Job Quality. Available at https://www.oecd.org/statistics/job-quality.htm.Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (nd-b) Ageing and employment policies - Statistics on average effective age of retirement. Available at https://www.oecd.org/els/emp/average-effective-age-of-retirement.htm.Google Scholar
Pavolini, E and Seeleib-Kaiser, M (2018) Comparing occupational welfare in Europe: the case of occupational pensions. Social Policy & Administration 52, 477–490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pfau-Effinger, B (2005) Welfare state policies and the development of care arrangements. European Societies 7, 321‒347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillipson, C and Smith, AE (2005) Extending Working Life: A Review of the Research Literature. London: Department for Work and Pensions.Google Scholar
Radl, J (2013) Labour market exit and social stratification in Western Europe: the effects of social class and gender on the timing of retirement. European Sociological Review 29, 654‒668.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ragin, C (1987) The Comparative Method: Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Ragin, C (1989) New directions in comparative research. In Kohn, ML (ed.), Cross-national Research in Sociology. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, pp. 57‒76.Google Scholar
Reday-Mulvey, G (2005) Working Beyond 60. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenthal, D and Moore, S (2018) The Psychology of Retirement. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shultz, KS and Wang, M (2007) The influence of specific physical health conditions on retirement decisions. International Journal of Aging and Human Development 65, 149‒161.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shultz, KS, Morton, KR and Weckerle, JR (1998) The influence of push and pull factors in distinguishing voluntary and involuntary early retirees’ retirement decision and adjustment. Journal of Vocational Behavior 53, 45‒57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snartland, V and Øverbye, E (2003) Skal jeg bli eller skal jeg gå? – Pensjonsforventninger hos lærere og ingeniører [Should I Stay or Should I Go? Pension Expectations Among Teachers and Engineers] (Report No. 21/2003). Oslo: NOVA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solem, PE, Syse, A, Furunes, T, Mykletun, RJ, de Lange, A, Schaufeli, W and Ilmarinen, J (2016) To leave or not to leave: retirement intentions and retirement behavior. Ageing & Society 36, 259–281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spangenberg, S, Baarts, C, Dyreborg, J, Jensen, L, Kines, P and Mikkelsen, K (2003) Factors contributing to the differences in work related injury rates between Danish and Swedish construction workers. Safety Science 41, 517‒530.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Statistics Denmark (1977) Statistisk årbog [Statistical Yearbook]. Copenhagen: Statistics Denmark.Google Scholar
Statistics Denmark (2014) 65 år i tal [65 Years in Numbers]. Copenhagen: Statistics Denmark.Google Scholar
Statistics Sweden (SCB) (1981) Statistisk årsbok [Statistical Yearbook]. Stockholm: SCB.Google Scholar
Statistics Sweden (SCB) (1985) Statistisk årsbok [Statistical Yearbook]. Stockholm: SCB.Google Scholar
Statistics Sweden (SCB) (1993) Statistisk årsbok [Statistical Yearbook]. Stockholm: SCB.Google Scholar
Statistics Sweden (SCB) (2001) Statistisk årsbok [Statistical Yearbook]. Stockholm: SCB.Google Scholar
Staubli, S and Zweimuller, J (2013) Does raising the early retirement age increase employment of older workers? Journal of Public Economics 108, 17–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Svallfors, S, Halvorsen, K and Andersen, JG (2001) Work orientations in Scandinavia: employment commitment and organizational commitment in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Acta Sociologica 44, 139‒156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Syse, A, Solem, PE, Ugreninov, E, Mykletun, R and Furunes, T (2014) Do spouses coordinate their work exits? A combined survey and register analysis from Norway. Research on Aging 36, 625–650.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taylor, P (2008) Introduction: the promise of ageing labour forces. In Taylor, P (ed.), Ageing Labour Forces. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, pp. 1‒21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, PE and Walker, A (1994) The ageing workforce: employers’ attitudes towards older people in work. Work, Employment & Society 8, 569‒591.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Therborn, G (1986) Why Some People Are More Unemployed Than Others. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Thorsen, SV, Jensen, PH and Bjørner, JB (2016) Psychosocial work environment and retirement age: a prospective study of 1876 senior employees. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health 89, 891–900.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tómasson, K, Gústafsson, L, Christensen, A, Røv, AS, Gravseth, HM, Bloom, K, Gröndahl, L and Aaltonen, M (2011) Fatal Occupational Accidents in the Nordic Countries 2003‒2008. Copenhagen: Tema Nord.Google Scholar
Topa, G, Depolo, M and Alcover, C-M (2018) Early retirement: a meta-analysis of its antecedent and subsequent correlates. Frontiers in Psychology 8, 2157.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Turunen, T (2011) Work orientation in flux? Comparing trends in and determinants of subjective work goals in five European countries. European Societies 13, 1‒22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van den Berg, P (2011) Characteristics of the work environment related to older employees’ willingness to continue working: intrinsic motivation as a mediator. Psychological Reports 109, 147‒186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Venti, S and Wise, DA (2015) The long reach of education: early retirement. Journal of the Economics of Ageing 1, 133‒148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vickerstaff, S, Loretto, W and White, P (2007) The future for older workers: opportunities and constraints. In Loretto, W, Vickerstaff, S and White, P (eds), The Future for Older Workers: New Perspectives. Bristol, UK: Policy Press, pp. 203‒226.Google Scholar
Wainwright, D, Crawford, J, Loretto, W, Phillipson, C, Robinson, M, Shepherd, S, Vickerstaff, S and Weyman, A (2019) Extending working life and the management of change. Is the workplace ready for the ageing worker? Ageing & Society 39, 2397–2419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, M and Shultz, KS (2010) Employee retirement: a review and recommendations for future investigation. Journal of Management 36, 172‒206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, M, Olson, DA and Schultz, KS (2013) Mid and Late Career Issues: An Integrative Perspective. London: Routledge.Google Scholar