ABSTRACT
The unions seem unanimous in preferring a fixed retirement age and a pension based on earlier earnings independent of any means or income test. In the case of systems which have flexible retirement ages, a certain pension is payable from a stated age, but the beneficiary is entitled to a reduced pension at a younger age or to postponing his right until an older age and receiving a proportionately higher pension then. Workers generally agree that there should be some flexibility in the retirement age and that a pension-preferably one based on former wages-should be paid following retirement; there is no consensus, however, on the amount of the pension and how the amount should be influenced by other social security benefits. Beneficiaries who are willing and able to work after retirement age thus receive both a pension and income from work and are thereby encouraged to seek income from work.
