Only fools rush in? On transition to retirement in ten European countries

Lucie Vidovicova, Masaryk University, Faculty of Social Studies
Beatrice-Elena Chromková Manea, Masaryk University, Brno
Ladislav Rabusic, Masaryk University, Brno

The age of retirement has become an important issue in the debate over the pension systems in most of the European societies. The main question posed in the present paper is what perspective Europeans have on the timing of their retirement. Using the results from the PPA II survey for ten European countries, we will try to reveal the paradox of early retirement. In all countries included in our analysis, it seems that people are aware that their societies are ageing and they are living longer. Even more, most of the respondents are aware of the decreasing level of income and serious impact of retirement on their living standards, as well as of the added value of work lost after the exit from the labour market. However, despite these facts, middle-aged Europeans (45 to 64 years) still have a strong desire to retire early. Our aim in the present paper is also to find an explanation for this early retirement paradox.