Live Longer, Work Longer? Evidence from Sweden’s Ageing Population
Författare
Summary, in Swedish
Popular Abstract in English
Sweden’s elderly population is growing, propelled by a continuous decline in old-age
mortality, while coupled with a persistent replacement level fertility. This
changing age structure increases the per worker cost of providing a given age-vector
of per capita benefits, encompassing costs for pensions, health care, and all
other type of old-age welfare services, which presents a looming challenge for the
welfare state to sustain its social transfer system. Options for tackling this daunting
challenge, such as increasing fertility and immigration levels, cutting benefits and
growing public debts, present numerous obstacles, thus discussion of policy options
has shifted the focus towards extending working life. This book contributes
to this ongoing policy discussion by exploring the recent trends in labor supply,
and investigating the underlying mechanisms driving these trends. The results of
this work illustrate a recent trend of prolonging working life in Sweden, whereby
average labor income has increased at older ages, and younger cohorts have increasingly
postponed their retirement. While these changes are uniform across
individuals of different sexes, occupations, and educational levels, the underlying
mechanisms appear different. These micro mechanisms may have myriad implications
concerning aggregate economic support for the ageing Swedish population.
In this regard, the findings in this book are relevant inputs for assessing the welfare
consequences of population ageing and deriving evidence-based policy options.
Sweden’s elderly population is growing, propelled by a continuous decline in old-age
mortality, while coupled with a persistent replacement level fertility. This
changing age structure increases the per worker cost of providing a given age-vector
of per capita benefits, encompassing costs for pensions, health care, and all
other type of old-age welfare services, which presents a looming challenge for the
welfare state to sustain its social transfer system. Options for tackling this daunting
challenge, such as increasing fertility and immigration levels, cutting benefits and
growing public debts, present numerous obstacles, thus discussion of policy options
has shifted the focus towards extending working life. This book contributes
to this ongoing policy discussion by exploring the recent trends in labor supply,
and investigating the underlying mechanisms driving these trends. The results of
this work illustrate a recent trend of prolonging working life in Sweden, whereby
average labor income has increased at older ages, and younger cohorts have increasingly
postponed their retirement. While these changes are uniform across
individuals of different sexes, occupations, and educational levels, the underlying
mechanisms appear different. These micro mechanisms may have myriad implications
concerning aggregate economic support for the ageing Swedish population.
In this regard, the findings in this book are relevant inputs for assessing the welfare
consequences of population ageing and deriving evidence-based policy options.
Publiceringsår
2016
Språk
Engelska
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
Lund Studies in Economic History
Volym
75
Fulltext
Dokumenttyp
Doktorsavhandling
Förlag
Department of Economic History, Lund University
Ämne
- Economic History
Nyckelord
- Employment
- Retirement Behavior
- Working Life
- Labor Supply
- Pension Reform
- Financial Incentives
- Population Ageing
Status
Published
Forskningsgrupp
- Knut Wicksell Centre for Financial Studies
Handledare
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1400-4860
Försvarsdatum
4 mars 2016
Försvarstid
14:00
Försvarsplats
EC3:207, School of Economics and Management, Lund University, Sweden
Opponent
- Peder Pedersen (Professor)