ABSTRACT
The CEE societies are ageing very rapidly. In this chapter, a pension system is framed as a formal labour market institution that either facilitates an early withdrawal from the labour market or prolongs the employment of older people. The study is based on an analysis of two cases: the Czech Republic and Poland. The selection of these countries is justified by substantial heterogeneity of institutional arrangements concerning pension systems, as they represent two divergent policy paths concerning pension reforms that were taken in CEE during the transition period. The general aim of this chapter is to assess whether old-age pension systems facilitate keeping labour utilisation of older people at high level. The chapter shows that in both countries there were several piecemeal reforms that aimed at curbing the extent of early retirement and prolonging the careers of older people. However, in the short term such reforms were moderately successful, as they were accompanied by ‘retirement runs’ of those who were eligible and could lose their early retirement rights. The chapter provides recommendations for policies aiming at increasing labour utilisation of older workers in CEE.
