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A Lifetime of Changes: State Pensions and Work Incentives at Older Ages in the UK, 1948-2018

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  • James Banks
  • Carl Emmerson
Abstract
We describe the history of state pension policy in the UK since 1948 and calculate summary measures of the generosity of the system over time and the degree to which the it created implicit taxes on, or subsidies to, work at older ages. The time series of these measures, calculated separately for ’example-type’ individuals of different birth cohorts, education and sexes, are then related to the time-series of employment rates at older ages for the equivalent types of individual. The generosity of the system rose over the period as whole but has fallen in recent years, and in contrast to many countries there were generally never large implicit taxes on work arising from the state pension system. What implicit subsidies there were in the years immediately before the State Pension Age have been gradually eliminated and the system is now broadly neutral with regard to work incentives. Exploiting variation in pension wealth and work incentives across different cohort-education-sex groups, created by the timing and phasing of pension reforms, we show that both pension wealth and the implicit work disincentives in the pension system are correlated with employment outcomes for men, with the expected negative sign.

Suggested Citation

  • James Banks & Carl Emmerson, 2018. "A Lifetime of Changes: State Pensions and Work Incentives at Older Ages in the UK, 1948-2018," NBER Working Papers 25261, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25261
    Note: AG
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David A. Wise, 2016. "Social Security Programs and Retirement Around the World: Disability Insurance Programs and Retirement," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number wise14-1.
    2. Cribb, Jonathan & Emmerson, Carl & Tetlow, Gemma, 2016. "Signals matter? Large retirement responses to limited financial incentives," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 203-212.
    3. Jonathan Gruber & David A. Wise, 2004. "Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: Micro-Estimation," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number grub04-1.
    4. Jonathan Gruber & David A. Wise, 1999. "Social Security and Retirement around the World," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number grub99-1.
    5. James Banks & Carl Emmerson & Gemma Tetlow, 2017. "Health Capacity to Work at Older Ages: Evidence from the United Kingdom," NBER Chapters, in: Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: The Capacity to Work at Older Ages, pages 329-357, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Richard Disney & Carl Emmerson, 2005. "Public pension reform in the United Kingdom: what effect on the financial well-being of current and future pensioners?," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 26(1), pages 55-81, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. José Luis Iparraguirre, 2020. "Economics and Ageing," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-29019-1, December.
    2. David Sturrock, 2023. "Wealth and welfare across generations," IFS Working Papers W23/15, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    3. Della Giusta, Marina & Longhi, Simonetta, 2020. "Stung by Pension Reforms: The Impact of a Change in State Pension Age on Mental Health and Life Satisfaction of Affected Women," IZA Discussion Papers 13587, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Huixin Bi & Sarah Zubairy, 2020. "Public Pension Reforms and Fiscal Foresight: Narrative Evidence and Aggregate Implications," Research Working Paper RWP 20-06, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions

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