European Policy Analysis Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 2016 | Page 78

Policy and Decision to Retire in Central and Eastern European Countries

Decision to Work or Retire in
Central and Eastern European
Countries

professional conferences (since 2008),
the Lithuanian national support measure
to subsidize enterprises carrying out inhouse training activities for employees
affected by the notice of dismissal or
for the temporary secondment of these
employees to other enterprises to acquire
missing skills, and national support
for training activities carried out by
enterprises regulated by the Law on
Employment Services in Slovakia.

To summarize, the active aging
policy in Central and Eastern European
countries started later than in Western
European countries. The active aging
policy instruments in the region are
lifelong learning, wage subsidies,
vocational training, higher protection
from dismissal, healthy working life, and
so on.

The next chapter provides the
analysis of the reasons that are important
to make decisions to work and to retire
after the retirement age.

Employment Protection

J

ob security issues can hamper or
promote the longer performance in
the labor market. As can be noticed
from ESS5 data, the respondents who gave
higher preferences to job security (variable
“important if choosing a job: secure job”)
more often belong to the groups that are
willing to retire in Lithuania, the Czech
Republic, Slovenia, and Poland. However,
an opposite situation (when people for
whom a secure job is important more
often decide to stay in the labor market)
is noticed in Bulgaria, Estonia, Slovakia,
and Hungary. Probably the preferences
for the secure job are related to the higher
employment insecurity in the mentioned
countries and prevent to continue in paid
work after the official age of retirement.

4,80
4,60
4,40
4,20
4,00
3,80
3,60

LT

LT

EE

EE

HU

HU

PL

PL

SK

SK

CZ

CZ

SI

SI

BG

BG

Wanted Preferred Wanted Preferred Wanted Preferred Wanted Preferred Wanted Preferred Wanted Preferred Wanted Preferred Wanted Preferred
to retire
to
to retire
to
to retire
to
to retire
to
to retire
to
to retire
to
to retire
to
to retire
to
continue
continue
continue
continue
continue
continue
continue
continue
in paid
in paid
in paid
in paid
in paid
in paid
in paid
in paid

Figure 1. Wanted to retire and preferred to continue in paid work by the variable
“important if choosing job: secure job” (mean value, 5 original categories from “not
important at all” (1) to “very important” (5); ESS 5)

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