ABSTRACT
The institutionalisation of old-age retirement as full exit from work has become a universal feature of post-war industrial economies (Myles and Quadagno 1991) and the largest income programme of modern welfare states (Esping-Andersen 1990). Since the rise of mass unemployment following the first oil shock, early exit from work before the normal pension age (around 65) has become a social trend that goes beyond the political expansion of social rights, but resulted from unintended policies and collective responses to the new socioeconomic pressures. Early retirement seemed to be a panacea for certain pervasive labour practices, including shedding workers to restructure in response to the changing economy, buying worker consent to downsizing by offering ‘soft landings’ and the efforts of government and unions to reduce labour supply. However, with increased early retirement, the negative economic and financial consequences have become more worrisome to governments, employers and union leaders alike: rising nonwage labour costs harm competitiveness; unemployment persists despite early exit; current social expenditure and future liabilities have risen substantially; the entry age into retirement is becoming increasingly early; and continued training and re-skilling of older workers is lacking. The multiple pathways of welfare policies and the complex web of industrial actors thus brought about a trend that was partly unintended and has proved difficult to reverse. In fact, early exit has become institutionalised as an acquired social right and an integral part of contemporary political economies.
