The transition from employment subject to social insurance to drawing a pension, between social policy control and company interests : a study of the causes of the early retirement trend in western Germany for the period from 1975 to 1990 on the basis of the IAB employment sample

Abstract

"In the empirical part of this article above all the influence of the employer side on the retirement trend in western Germany between 1975 and 1990 is examined. The data basis is the IAB employment sample, which is evaluated separately according to gender and year of birth for those born in the years 1920 to 1925 who were in employment subject to social insurance. Here the descriptive evaluation findings show the expected trend towards early retirement for men, but not for women. As far as the type of retirement is concerned, it can be seen that among both women and men a considerable proportion of those insured persons who retired before the age of 60 had been unemployed temporarily after leaving employment, and this proportion showed an increasing tendency in the period under consideration. As is documented by the results of a multivariate estimate model on the individual transition into retirement for the male members of the six age-groups, the chance of leaving employment early and then being unemployed increased with the relative unemployment rate in an industry (referring to the unemployment rates in the other industries). Furthermore the estimates revealed as expected that older workers in very small and very large enterprises faced a particularly high risk of leaving the labour force early. As the evaluation results on the whole indicate that the clear trend towards early retirement among the men of the 1920 to 1925 age-groups is attributable to a considerable degree to the exertion of influence by the employer side, it is possible to draw the conclusion regarding the question as to the presumable effects of an isolated raising of the age limit, that at least for the near future a reversal of the early retirement trend can not be expected." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Wübbeke, C. (1999): Der Übergang von sozialversicherungspflichtiger Beschäftigung in den Rentenbezug zwischen sozialpolitischer Steuerung und betrieblichen Interessen. Eine Untersuchung der Ursachen des Frühverrentungstrends in Westdeutschland für den Zeitraum von 1975 bis 1990 auf Basis der IAB-Beschäftigtenstichprobe. In: Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Vol. 32, No. 1, p. 102-117.