ABSTRACT
Among aging Western countries, Belgium seems a somewhat specific case regarding the employment rate of older workers. Indeed, it is well known that, mainly because of persistent public policies of early withdrawal from the workforce, Belgium remains far below the level of 50 percent fixed by the Barcelona targets for people aged 55–64. In 2011, 37.3 percent of those aged 55–59 and 21 percent of those aged 60–64 were still working while the official retirement age was 65. Beyond this age, retirees are exposed to serious cuts in their pension income if they combine paid work with a pension income, and work is an exception: less than 2 percent of people aged 65+ still had some professional activity (Higher Council for Employment [HCE] 2012). In other words, full and early withdrawal constitutes a salient reality for a majority of older Belgian workers, even if achieved by quite diverse means.
