Abstract
The paper describes labor market developments for older workers in Germany in recent years. It provides a a summary of the main changes in labor market and pension policies in Germany which might have contributed to these developments. The main part of the paper offers, on the basis of micro data from the Socioeconomic Panel (SOEP), empirical evidence on changes in employment and long-term unemployment, early retirement as well as relative wages by age for Germany in the period 2000–2014. Based on this empirical analysis, some implications for labor market policies are discussed.
Highlights
Until recently, policy discussions in Germany have been dominated by concerns about high unemployment, employment uncertainty, increasing earnings inequality, and the long-term impact of these developments on the public pension system
An important feature of the “German employment miracle” has been the substantial improvement of the labor market situation of older workers, which is the topic of the present study
This paper aims at establishing important stylized facts about the development of the labor market for older workers in Germany in recent years
Summary
Policy discussions in Germany have been dominated by concerns about high unemployment, employment uncertainty, increasing earnings inequality, and the long-term impact of these developments on the public pension system. Long-term unemployment and early retirement of older workers have been one of the more problematic features of the German market. In the wake of the severe economic recession in 2009, the performance of the German labor market improved significantly with increasing employment and decreasing unemployment rates. An important feature of the “German employment miracle” has been the substantial improvement of the labor market situation of older workers, which is the topic of the present study. After the economic and financial crises in 2009/10, the labor market has, on average, developed more favorably in Germany than in most other EU countries. Starting from a very low level in the early 2000’s, the employment rate of people in the age
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