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Delaying Retirement pp 291–313Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

The Outdistanced Vanguard: Early Retirement Policy in Denmark as an Obstacle to Progress in Active Aging

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Abstract

The authors describe the case of Denmark that is said to be one of the few countries in the world coping well with the challenge of providing older workers with a favorable labor market situation and socially adequate old age pensions. Compared to other countries, however, employment rates of older workers over 60 have not increased significantly in recent years. This might be related to a generous early retirement scheme. Furthermore, educational attainment and gender impact heavily on a person’s retirement timing. In sum, Denmark’s reputation as a vanguard in a context of “active aging” is in question.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For Danish citizens who have less than 40, but at least 3 residence years, benefits are reduced. Non-Danish citizens with less than 40 years must have lived in the country for 10 years including the last 5 years before retirement.

  2. 2.

    Although unemployment insurance is voluntary in Denmark, about 80 % of all employed persons are members and at 90 % (for low-wage earners), the replacement ratio for unemployment benefits is one of the highest in the world (Aagaard et al. 2004).

  3. 3.

    In SHARE, for example, the question on the reason(s) for retirement in the Danish language version includes Efterløn as an example of retirement due to redundancy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Stefanie König

  2. German Institute for International Educational Research (DIPF), Berlin, Germany

    Julia Schilling

Authors
  1. Stefanie König
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  2. Julia Schilling
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Correspondence to Stefanie König .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany

    Dirk Hofäcker

  2. Institute of Gerontology at the Technical University of Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany

    Moritz Hess

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Stefanie König

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König, S., Schilling, J. (2016). The Outdistanced Vanguard: Early Retirement Policy in Denmark as an Obstacle to Progress in Active Aging. In: Hofäcker, D., Hess, M., König, S. (eds) Delaying Retirement. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56697-3_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56697-3_13

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