The subject of the project is the system of early retirement – or, as it is now called, the sickness benefit – and its importance for the exit of older people from working life.
The subject of the project is the system of early retirement – or, as it is now called, the sickness benefit – and its importance for the exit of older people from working life. We provide a historical overview of the development of the system of early retirement both as concerns formal eligibility rules and the administration of the system. The focus is then on analysing the results of the stricter eligibility rules for being granted early retirement that have been implemented in the latter half of the first decade of the 21st century, which have lead to a strong decrease in the number of new individuals that have been granted early retirement.
The key issue is what happens to those individuals who are not granted early retirement according to the stricter rules. Are they to be found in other insurance systems, in the social welfare system or in employment? Can we see any health effects of the changed eligibility requirements? The project contributes to the discussion of the requirements that the latest tightening of the rules for early retirement together with a planned increase in the retirement age make on other social welfare systems and on labour market policy.
Stefan Sandström, stefan.sandstrom@sns.se, Research Director, SNS
Per Johansson, Professor of Economics, Uppsala University and IFAU
Lisa Laun, PhD in Economics and researcher at IFAU
Mårten Palme, Professor of Economics, Stockholm University
Helena Stensöta, Associate Professor (Docent) of Political Science, University of Gothenburg.
The report was presented on the 17th of May 2018.
Funding has been obtained from Jan Wallander och Tom Hedelius’ Research Foundations.