Purpose: This study examines sex differences among Baby Boom workers in the likelihood of coverage by an employer-provided retirement plan. Design and Methods: This study used a sample of Baby Boom workers drawn from the 2009 Current Population Survey. Independent variables were selected to replicate as closely as possible those in two 1995…

Population aging in Korea is projected to be the most rapid among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries between 2000 and 2050. However, social spending in Korea remains low, reflecting Korea's relatively young population, limited health and long-term care insurance coverage, and immaturity of its pension system.…

Purpose: As part of an ongoing effort to analyze the distributional implications of potential policy reforms to the U.S. Social Security system, we consider the widely discussed reform of earnings sharing. Such an approach has been viewed as a way to "update" Social Security's family benefits based on marital status and as a means to…

Japan has the highest proportion of older adults in the world. Aging is not only an immediate personal issue but also a salient factor in crucial public policies, such as pensions, health, and long-term care. The Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power plant disaster of March 2011 has highlighted current and emerging issues of a…

The State of Israel provides significant opportunities to study social processes that can enhance our understanding of the aging experience. It has high life expectancy and rapid growth of its older population. With an older cohort that is composed largely of former immigrants and includes a minority Arab population, Israel provides much diversity…

Purpose: We examine the methodological and economic policy implications of three operationalizations of retirement migration. Design and Methods: We compared the traditional age-based definition of retirement migration and two retirement-based definitions, based on degree of labor-force participation and retirement income, by using the 2000 U.S.…

Interviews with faculty at a university having an incentive early retirement plan revealed that those choosing to retire early were in poorer health, faced smaller proportional income decrement upon retirement, were less satisfied with teaching assignments, and considered themselves lower in research productivity and higher in teaching and…

Examines post-retirement benefit increases in 76 large state pension plans and the impact of such increases on the purchasing power and adequacy of pension benefits. Although nearly all plans increased benefits for retirees, increases were much less than needed to maintain the purchasing power of pension benefits. (Author/JAC)

Implementation of unisex pension plan allowing employers to comply with Supreme Court rulings would result in a fall in single men's pension wealth, a rise in single women's pension wealth, and change in returns to pension contributions. Offers analysis of how change to unisex plan would affect pension wealth and retirement decisions for single…

Most persons seem to respond to economic incentives in choosing when to retire. While changes in the social security system are likely to have only small effects on retirement behavior, larger impacts could ensue from altering incentives implicit in private pension plans. Important area for future research is transition process that follows end of…

Purpose: This article investigates how older Americans leave their career jobs and estimates the extent of intermediate labor force activity (bridge jobs) between full-time work on a career job and complete labor-force withdrawal. Design and Methods: Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, we explored the work histories and retirement…

Used data from a national sample of over 800 middle-aged married women to examine influences on retirement plans. Although the majority did not plan to retire at the same time as their husbands, having a retired husband as well as women's own retirement benefits were strong influences. (JAC)

Empirical evidence of tax shelter usage is sparse. These data add weight to earlier concerns about whether tax incentives to save for retirement benefit upper-income groups more than middle- and lower-income groups and present the importance of different sources of income in providing retirement funds for this group. (Author/RC)

Describes Australia's retirement income arrangements, including age pension, private pensions, changes in provisions by the federal government, and factors that shaped changes. Notes that difficulties experienced by the government in introducing changes underscore political sensitivity of retirement income policy in Australia. (Author/NB)

Projected implications of population aging are based on a definition of retirement age as 65. This article discusses the concept of "equivalent retirement ages" as a method for determining appropriate age for normal retirement and points out usefulness and limitations of raising normal retirement age as a policy instrument. (BF)