Economic Crisis and Old Age Employment in Europe

Hafize Pinar Koksel, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Population ageing represents a significant change in human history, with far-reaching economic repercussions. The increase in the number of old and inactive populations rearticulates the debates regarding labor market participation of old-age workers. However, while compulsory and official age of retirement is similar across Europe, actual labor market exit age varies to a great extent and is below the official levels. In this paper, we examine how employment levels among old-age workers in Europe have evolved during the last decade and how they have been affected by the recent economic crisis. To this end, we pool together the four waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and focus on individuals between 50 and 65 years of age who are in the last stage of their working careers and who are facing important labor market participation decisions.