ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at how employment policy came to influence retirement policy. It examines the magnitude of the subsidy and explores the possibility of setting benefit levels that would eliminate it. The chapter considers mainly incentives relating to participation and employment and look at data concerning and illustrates the variety of approaches by comparing the US which enables early retirement with France and the Netherlands which have been among the countries most aggressively encouraging it. It deals with early retirement; interest is primarily in the rates paid to those who draw pensions before the normal retirement age. A person's work and retirement decisions and wage history help determine pension benefits, and parameters of the pension system may influence work decisions. The new view is a reaction to the fact that the function of the retirement system has been blurred, making it in effect into unemployment insurance for older workers who are the original retirement age.
