Matthew Yglesias in the US had a good post recently on retirement ages. It’s worth reading in its (relatively brief) entirety, but I particularly found my head nodding at this bit:
The other issue is that as best I can tell from the labor market fate of people in the 50-65 age bracket, employers aren’t exactly chomping at the bit to hire older workers in any capacity . . . It seems to me that if your desire is to see more people in the 60-70 range working, that you have to show me you’re making some progress on creating meaningful labor market opportunities for older people. Just yanking the safety net out isn’t much of a solution.
As I’ve stated before, I think it’s important that the progressive movement debate the issues around savings levels, retirement incomes and the general costs of an ageing society in an informed and forthright manner.
I’ve published two guest-posts so far by economist Peter Harris, in defence of aspects of the current model. I’d be interested in publishing further guest-posts as well, on either side of the argument. If you’ve got something to say (or know somebody else who does), then send an email and let us know.
Tags: New Zealand Superannuation, retirement age, retirement income
