Delaying retirement age increases the risk of mortality for certain groups

An academic study shows how this measure affects the 60-69 age group and mostly harms employees with low-skilled, physically and psychosocially demanding jobs. Researchers, including Sergi Jiménez-Martín, a UPF full professor of Economics, say allowing flexible retirement plans, such as partial retirement, mitigates the negative effect of delaying retirement. One of the main policy instruments to address population ageing and maintain financial solvency is the reform of the public pensions system. Restricting access to early retirement schemes by raising the minimum age to qualify for a pension is one of the most widely used measures in different countries. An academic study involving UPF, focusing on a pension reform in Spain, shows the impact of delayed retirement on mortality, especially how it is affected by tightening the eligibility criteria for early retirement. -A flexible retirement system, with technically tight benefits, may be the solution to mitigate the high cost, in terms of health, caused by restricting early retirement - It concludes that reforms undertaken based on increasing the retirement age can have a negative impact on the survival of certain groups, especially for employees in low-skilled, physically and psychosocially demanding jobs, in the 60-69 age group, leading to inequalities in the time to retirement between these groups. The study, published in an abridged version via a post on the blog Nadaesgratis.es and as a working document by FEDEA, is drafted by Sergi Jiménez-Martín , a full professor of the Department of Economics and Business at UPF and holder of the FEDEA-la Caixa Chair of Health Economics and Lifestyle Habits, together with Cristina Bellés-Obrero (first author) and Han Ye , both attached to the University of Mannheim.