27 Jul 2015
by Jim Rose
in currency unions, economic history, Euro crisis, fiscal policy, labour economics, labour supply
Tags: ageing society, demographics crisis, economics of retirement, female labour force participation, Greece, Italy, male labour force participation, old age pensions, older workers, Portugal, social insurance, Social Security, Spain, taxation and labour supply
Figure 1 shows a relatively distinct pattern for men in the PIGs. Portugal aside, there has been a long decline retirement ages. This is different to the Anglo-Saxon countries where effective retirement ages have been increasing in recent years for men.
Figure 1: average effective retirement age (5-year averages), men, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain, 1970 – 2012
Source: OECD Pensions at a Glance.
Figure 2 shows that apart from Greece, that after a long decline in female effective retirement ages, there was something the rebound, especially in Italy and Portugal. In Greece, the rebound was in the 80s, followed by a resumption of decline from the mid 90s.
Figure 2: average effective retirement age (5-year averages), women, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain, 1970 – 2012
Source: OECD Pensions at a Glance.
27 Jul 2015
by Jim Rose
in labour economics, labour supply, minimum wage, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, public economics, welfare reform
Tags: earned income tax credit, family tax credits, in-work tax credits, poverty traps, social insurance, Social Security, taxation and labour supply
26 Jul 2015
by Jim Rose
in labour economics, minimum wage, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, population economics, public economics
Tags: Australia, British economy, Canada, Japan, social insurance, Social Security taxes, taxation and labour supply
Figure 1: Hourly minimum wage before and after taxes, 2013, US dollars at purchasing power parities, single-person household
Source: OECD Focus on Minimum Wages after the crisis (2015).
25 Jul 2015
by Jim Rose
in economic history, gender, labour economics, labour supply, politics - USA
Tags: ageing society, British economy, demographic crisis, economics of retirement, effective retirement ages, female labour force participation, female labour supply, France, Germany, male labour force participation, male labour supply, old age pensions, older workers, retirement ages, social insurance, Social Security, welfare state
Figure 1 shows a divergence from a common starting point in 1974 effective retirement ages. The French in particular were the first to put their feet up and start retiring by the age of 60 by the early 1990. There was also a sharp increase in the average effective retirement age for men in the UK over a short decade. After that, British retirement ages for men started to climb again in the late 1990s. Figure 1 also shows that the gentle taper in the effective retirement age for American men stopped at the 1980s and started to climb again in the 2000s. The German data is too short to be of much use because of German unification. France only recently stopped seeing its effective retirement age fall and it is slightly increased recently – see figure 1
Figure 1: average effective retirement age for men, USA, UK, France and Germany, 1970 – 2012, (five-year average)
Source: OECD Pensions at a Glance.
Figure 2 shows similar results for British and American women as for men in the same country shown in figure 1 . That is, falling effective retirement ages for both British and American women in the 1970s and 1980s followed by a slow climb again towards the end of 1990s. French effective retirement ages for women followed the same pattern as for French retirement ages for men – a long fall to below the age of 60 with a slight increase recently. The German retirement data suggest that effective retirement ages for German women is increasing.
Figure 2: average effective retirement age for women, USA, UK, France and Germany 1970 – 2012, (five-year average)
Source: OECD Pensions at a Glance.
24 Jul 2015
by Jim Rose
in business cycles, health and safety, human capital, labour economics, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, welfare reform
Tags: adverse selection, disability insurance, moral hazard, social insurance, welfare state
24 Jul 2015
by Jim Rose
in economic history, labour economics, labour supply, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand
Tags: ageing society, Australia, demographic crisis, economics of retirement, effective retirement ages, female labour force participation, female labour supply, male labour force participation, male labour supply, old age pensions, older workers, retirement ages, social insurance, Social Security, welfare state
Figures 1 and 2 shows a sharp increase in the average effective retirement age for men and women in both Australia and New Zealand between 1970 and 1990. After that, retirement ages for men in both countries stabilised for about a decade. effective retirement age than Australia.
Figure 1: average effective retirement age for men, Australia and New Zealand, 1970 – 2012, (five-year average)
Source: OECD Pensions at a Glance.
Interestingly, in the 1970s and 1980s, New Zealand had an old-age pension scheme, known as New Zealand Superannuation, whose eligibility age was lowered from 65 to 60 in one shot in 1975. This old-age pension in New Zealand had no income test or assets test, but there was for a time a small surcharge on any income of pensioners. Nonetheless, New Zealand had a higher effective retirement age than in Australia where the old-age pension eligibility age is 65 with strict income and assets tests.
Figure 2: average effective retirement age for women, Australia and New Zealand, 1970 – 2012, (five-year average)
Source: OECD Pensions at a Glance.
Figure 1 and figure 2 also shows that the sharp increase in effective retirement ages in New Zealand for both men and women after the eligibility age for New Zealand’s old-age pension was increased from 60 to 65 over 10 years.
Figures 1 and 2 also show the gradual increase in effective retirement ages for Australian men and women from the end of the 1990s.
24 Jul 2015
by Jim Rose
in economics of love and marriage, labour economics, law and economics, poverty and inequality, welfare reform
Tags: economics of fertility, marriage and divorce, Population demographics, single mothers, single parents, social insurance, welfare state
23 Jul 2015
by Jim Rose
in economic history, gender, labour economics, labour supply
Tags: ageing society, British economy, demographic crisis, economics of retirement, effective retirement ages, female labour force participation, female labour supply, male labour force participation, male labour supply, old age pensions, older workers, retirement ages, social insurance, Social Security, welfare state
Figure 1 shows a divergence in the 1970s where there is a sharp increase in the average effective retirement age for men in the UK over a short decade. After that, British retirement ages for men started to climb again in the late 1990s. Figure 1 also shows that the gentle taper in the effective retirement age for American men stopped at the 1980s and started to climb again in the 2000s.
Figure 1: average effective retirement age for men, USA and UK, 1970 – 2012, (five-year average)
Source: OECD Pensions at a Glance.
Figure 2 shows similar results to figure 1 for British and American women. That is, falling effective retirement ages for both British and American women in the 1970s and 1980s followed by a slow climb again during the 1990s.
Figure 2: average effective retirement age for women, USA and UK, 1970 – 2012, (five-year average)
Source: OECD Pensions at a Glance.
17 Jul 2015
by Jim Rose
in labour economics, minimum wage, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, welfare reform
Tags: child poverty, family poverty, family tax credits, female labour force participation, in-work tax credits, single mothers, single parents, social insurance, welfare reform, welfare state
16 Jul 2015
by Jim Rose
in economic growth, labour economics, labour supply, minimum wage, politics - New Zealand, poverty and inequality, unemployment, welfare reform
Tags: child poverty, family poverty, family tax credits, in-work tax credits, social insurance, welfare reform, welfare state
Figure 1: child poverty (%) in New Zealand (before and after housing costs), 1982 – 2013
Source: Bryan Perry, Household incomes in New Zealand: Trends in indicators of inequality and hardship 1982 to 2013. Ministry of Social Development (July 2014), Tables F.6 and F.7.
15 Jul 2015
by Jim Rose
in business cycles, currency unions, economic growth, Euro crisis, fiscal policy, job search and matching, labour economics, macroeconomics, unemployment
Tags: ageing society, demographic crisis, economic reform, employment law, employment regulation, Greece, labour market deregulation, Margaret Thatcher, pension reform, privatisation, Roger Douglas, social insurance, sovereign bailouts, sovereign defaults, welfare state
14 Jul 2015
by Jim Rose
in international economics, labour supply, minimum wage, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, welfare reform
Tags: Australia, British economy, Canada, low pay, New Zealand, social insurance, welfare state, working poor
Figure 1: working poor – proportion of employed persons with income below the poverty line (50% of median disposable income) living in households with a working age head and at least one worker in USA, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, 2013
Source: In It Together – Why Less Inequality Benefits All – © OECD 2015, OECD Income Distribution Database (IDD), www.oecd.org/social/income-distribution-database.htm, Table 1.A1.1. Key indicators on the distribution of household disposable income and poverty, 2007, 2011 and 2013 or most recent year.
09 Jul 2015
by Jim Rose
in applied welfare economics, fiscal policy, income redistribution, labour economics, politics - Australia, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, welfare reform
Tags: distributive justice, social insurance, social justice, top 1%, welfare state
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