Part-time retirement is no panacea for working longer
The interest in part-time retirement is high among broad sections of the population and is rising as the basic retirement age rises. Many people work longer if they can make use of a part-time pension. However, about the same amount of people see part-time retirement as a means to stop working earlier (part-time). The level of the part-time pension and the wage for the hours worked have an important influence on the use of part-time pension. By making part-time retirement financially more attractive, labor participation can still be stimulated, but there are costs involved.
This is apparent from a specially designed survey and vignette analysis in the Long-term Internet Studies for the Social Sciences panel (LISS). Two of the five respondents in the study are interested in part-time retirement as an intermediate phase towards full-time retirement. This interest differs little between people with different educational levels and, moreover, is virtually the same for men and women. The enthusiasm for part-time retirement is not appreciably related to household income.
For more information, read the paper “Part-time pension is not a panacea for labor participation” by Daniel van Vuuren (TiU), Tunga Kantarci (TiU), Henk-Wim de Boer (CPB) and Ed Westerhout (CPB) (summary in English, paper is only available in Dutch).