Employment of older people and retirement security in OECD countries

In the economic history of the world, when people stopped working because of their old age, it was understood that working was impossible due to an illness and not due to age itself. There are no rational arguments justifying the welfare state’s financing pensions of those who are able and willing to work. Nowadays, the aging of societies and growing life expectancy occurring in numerous developed countries are accompanied by the decreasing efficiency of pension systems. Various actions are undertaken aimed at improving this situation, including raising the statutory retirement age and professionally activating the elderly. However, despite these actions, the average employment rate among older workers in the OECD in 2021 was as low as 72% in the age group 55–64, 50% in the age group 60–64, and only 23% among people aged 65–69. The objective of the article is to engage in a discourse on the factors influencing sustained participation in professional work by older individuals, particularly in scenarios when they have attained the statutory retirement age. It seeks to address the question of whether and to what degree the employment rate of older workers correlates with fundamental variables that indicate the level of pension security. The analysis will utilize correlation coefficients and a linear regression model applied to OECD statistical data. Conducted studies indicate that significant factors associated with the social security system, determining the professional employment of older individuals, include net pension wealth, life expectancy, old-age dependency ratio, and formal long-term care workers.