ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the disparities produced when moving from earnings to pension income. It considers the distribution of major elements of occupational welfare in the United States—particularly employer pensions, health insurance, unemployment compensation, and disability insurance—and their recent history. Employer provided pensions from private and government based employment has set the clock for retirement timing, but only for that portion of the labor force with access to them. These instruments fueled the trend toward earlier retirement—retirement before Social Security–based full benefit eligibility ages—during the post-World War II period. The chapter compares labor force participation patterns and the welfare system of the United States with several other countries. All of these countries share common challenges and concerns regarding population aging and labor market policies, but their responses to these exigencies are very different.
