Early Retirement and Late Retirement: Comparative Analysis of 20 European Countries

The goal of this research is to examine the associations among personal characteristics, country-level indicators, and the retirement timing in 20 European countries. Data came from 34,483 retired respondents who participated in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. Using a multilevel analysis, we explored the relationship between timing of retirement and personal as well as country-level variables. Early retirement was found to be more likely when gross domestic product (GDP) was lower, and/or when health conditions were poorer, while later retirement was more common when GDP or unemployment rate were higher. In addition, the country of residence affected the timing of retirement. One implication is that increasing the pensionable age will increase retirement age, as people tend to retire when they are eligible for full pension benefits. Furthermore, the differences in retirement decision among countries are largely related to the generosity of pension schemes.