MANDATORY RETIREMENT

Understanding the impact on the end of mandatory retirement in Canada VS US,Brazil,UK



Understanding the impact on the end of mandatory retirement in Canada VS US,Brazil,UK

Introduction

The current study is based on the ongoing pension crisis and its impact on various aspects of the economic conditions of the Canada. The pension crisis in the Canada has been discussed by the government authorities on large extent. This pension crisis that is going on in other parts of the world as well has mainly occurred due to the economic downturn in the past years. The study includes different aspects of the U.K, Brazil and US Pension scheme that mainly covers the current economy and pension crisis in it, private and public pension debates, occupational and personal pensions, the impact of pension crisis on graduating students etc. Different past studies on the Pension schemes have been carried out that takes into account the pension plans and the participation of employees in it.

Discussion

The idea that retirement constitutes a life stage, marking the end of the working years and the beginning of other leisurely pursuits, is relatively new. The meaning of retirement has evolved over the past 150 years, a transformation influenced by common beliefs about older workers and the aging process itself. Retirement policy over the past century reflects economic, demographic, and social transitions in industrialized societies, and is often driven by labor supply and employer needs. In the United States, the origins of the social institution of retirement can be traced to the mid-19th century early industrial period. During this period, the foundation for modern retirement was laid by the proliferation of labor unions, the beginning of mandatory retirement, and advocacy for public pension programs in Germany and other industrialized countries. As industrialization expanded, mandatory retirement and private pensions became an important source of control for employers. In the early days of the industrial revolution, private pensions served to reduce employee turnover by rewarding seniority. By the turn of the century, the shape of the workforce was changing rapidly as large numbers of Europeans immigrated to the United States. Employers turned to mandatory retirement as a means of purging older, conceivably less productive workers to make room for a less expensive immigrant labor force (Blondall, 1999).

Not all of the employers that adopted mandatory retirement rules offered pensions, a situation that left many elders destitute during the Great Depression. The US Social Security system was designed to address this issue. Social Security served a dual purpose: it improved the financial well-being of elders, and simultaneously facilitated the exit of large numbers of people from the labor force. The requirement that older workers withdraw from the labor force to receive benefits ensured that more jobs would be available for younger workers. The development of the Social Security program, combined with existing mandatory retirement rules in the private sector and the growing availability of pensions, helped establish social norms about the timing of the retirement transition. The normal retirement age, the age at which workers are ...