At a time when increases in health and longevity indicate that workers are physically able to remain in employment for longer than their predecessors, the reverse has been the case. As a result of recession and redundancy, early retirement has become an accepted route to exit the labour market, and early exit has been encouraged in many countries as a means of alleviating youth unemployment. However, an approaching ‘demographic time-bomb’, which will put pressure on support ratios and social welfare costs, is stimulating the introduction of national and Community level initiatives to reverse the trend in early exit.
International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations